To Dance
by MustardGal
Summary: Noa arrives in Amestris with a sick Ed and she has no clue where she is. She comes upon Roy, who tries to help. As Ed slowly recovers from an illness they can't recognize, Winry comes to town upon hearing of his return. Completed.
1. Arrival

_**-Post movie-**  
_

_Pain. It hit him like an oncoming wave, making him suffocate with every single breath he took. Damn it, the pain crushed his eyes closed and he saw nothing. He smelled nothing; except the air that had the stench of death on it. He tried to grasp his face in his hands, but he could not feel them. He tried moving his fingers; he wondered if he even had them anymore. His mind soon became filled with nothing… but death._

* * *

"Hold on Edward," gasped the young woman. She blinked a few times, trying to remove the drops of water on her eyelashes. She thrust her dark hair behind her hair and looked down at the unmoving form next to her. She leaned down and put a cool dark hand on his cheek she inhaled sharply when she felt the warmth of his cheek. He had a fever. She brushed loose strands of hair off his forehead and lightly said his name again. "Edward… come on Edward… wake up!" It was no use; he could not hear her. 

She looked around her frantically, not knowing where she was. There had been a bright flash of light and then they were here… she gasped. Where was Alphonse? He was right next to them when it happened. "Alphonse!" She first said his name quietly, then starting saying his name in a frantic yell. She stopped and choked back on her tears. She wiped her eyes with her left hand, her right still on Edward's cheek. _What do I do? _

She looked up at her surroundings. They were in an alley and it was cold and wet. Water ran down the middle of the alley and she just then realized that she and Edward were sitting in a puddle. She cursed and wiped her tears away for the last time and grabbed hold of Edward's arm. She wasn't strong enough to carry him, but she would have to try to drag him somehow. Using all her might, she put Edward's left arm around her neck and tried to stand up slowly. The weight of his automail was surprisingly heavier than she thought and she staggered a few steps. She regained her footing and slowly started to walk.

The rain started pouring again and she could see no shelter around. She cursed once more and kept on walking. It took about ten feet to get out of the alley and already she was beginning to get tired. Her strength had been already drained from the beginning… how would she make it?

_Don't panic, Noa_ she told herself. She looked around at the grey buildings around her, straining to make the shapes out in the darkness. A light stood not another ten feet away and she struggled to make it over there. Edward had his head slung foreword and he gave no sign of regaining consciousness. She noticed that he had a scratch on his cheek and across his eye; how had he gotten that? His clothes were also ragged and torn in several places. It wasn't before long that she noticed her own clothes were like that and she too suffered scratches, but they were on her arms. Her head also ached and she guessed that she had several bruises. _How in the world had that happened?_

Just then she noticed a light turn off in a building that was surrounded by a gate. She looked curiously at the cloth that hung down the side of the building; it had a symbol. A symbol that looked very similar to her. _Didn't Ed's pocket watch have that on it…?_ She gasped. Had they somehow gotten back to Ed's world?

A door creaked and she looked up to see a silent figure walk out of the building. She moved quickly as she could out of the light and waited for the figure to walk through the gate. The gate creaked and the man passed through. She noticed his piercing black eyes and striking black hair. He had his hands in his pockets, but she saw his shoulders tense and he stopped walking. "Who's there?" he said in English.

Damn it… she didn't know very much English. But she was pretty sure that this was the man Roy Mustang, whom Edward described for her before. She took a step. "Hello," she said lightly. "I…" she struggled with remembering the words. In Germany, she had had no need for English. Though she remembered the one word that could work. "Help!" she said in a strained voice. "Help!"

The man turned fully around and obviously didn't see her form in the dark. "What's the matter?" He heard her walk forward sluggishly and he rushed to her. He stopped when he made out the form.

"Help!" Noa said once again. "Edward… help… him!" she shouted, the tears rushing down her face. She was so exhausted that she stumbled to the ground. The man reached out and caught her arm in a strong grip and the other hand supported Edward. He grunted under the weight his arms took. Surprise was etched on his face. She shook her head slowly and looked up into the black eyes. "Help him. _Er ist schwer verletzt_!" She finished in German.

He nodded and took Edward from her and slowly put him over his shoulder and held him there with his left arm. He took Noa in his right and helped her stay up by placing her arm around his neck. Noa knew this was a lot of weight for him but she knew that they needed help.

They seemed to be walking forever but in reality, it hadn't been for long. They passed through the dark streets and the man showed no sign of being tired yet. He started heading towards a door and leaned Noa against the side of the wall, needing a free hand to knock on the door. "Riza!" he said loudly. He kept pounding until he heard footsteps inside. He took a step back and took Edward off his shoulder and held him in his arms. The door opened and the man motioned for Noa to walk in and she tried as fast as she could. She staggered into the woman who had opened the door. The woman gasped and helped keep Noa steady.

The man marched past them and set Edward down on the couch. Riza closed the door and helped Noa into a chair. Noa tried to listen into the man and woman's conversation, but of course she couldn't understand them. Her stomach twisted and she gasped. She was sick. She needed to puke. As she did, darkness claimed her.

* * *

"Roy, how…?" Riza started saying as she helped the woman into the chair, who was as pale as a ghost despite her slightly dark skin. She placed a hand on the woman's forehead and shook her head. "She has a fever." 

Roy stood up from Edward's side. "So does he." He looked back at the woman in the chair. "Ah… catch her!" he yelled as the woman sank to her side and vomit came out of her mouth. He rushed to the woman's side and quickly grabbed a towel that was on the table. He wiped up of what he could; the rest was on the woman's clothes. "Riza, you're going to have change her."

"I'm surprised you don't want to," Riza commented under her breath. Roy ignored her and picked the woman up, bringing her into Riza's room. He set her down softly and turned to Riza, who was getting clothes out from her closet.

"How did Edward get back here?" she asked, still facing the closet.

Roy shook his head. "I don't know. The woman doesn't even speak English… I didn't even recognize her language."

"… What about Alphonse?" Riza asked, almost seeming hesitant or afraid to ask.

"I didn't see him," Roy said sadly. "He'll turn up, I'm sure." He turned when he heard a groan come from the living room. Edward was awake. He turned and closed the door on his way out. Edward looked practically dead when he first saw him… and the woman herself didn't look good at all either. What in the blazes happened to them? He entered the living room and saw Edward puking to the side of him on the ground. Roy sighed. He probably wouldn't get any answers from the both of them in a few days. He grabbed a towel and headed towards Edward, who had lost consciousness once again.

**My new story! I always planned to write something called 'To Dance' since forever now, and it was a dream that got me the motivation to write it. Pairings are yet to be determined, though no yaoi. The relationship between Ed and Roy are more… fatherly like. ;) **

**Please review, and to be updated soon!**

** And if anybody knows any German... correct me if I'm wrong on the German phrases. :) I'm now taking a German class mostly because it interested me, but I also wanted to make sure of what I was writing in German.  
**


	2. Meeting

_Alphonse was trapped. He thrashed his arms around, trying to grasp at the invisible hands holding onto him. He blinked and tried to open his eyes and when he did, blinding light flashed, causing him to shut them again. He groaned and tried once again. Yellow bright light blinded him, but he squinted against the light. He looked at the long black arms clawing at his arms, his leg, and his torso and felt the excruciating pain as he felt his arms being pulled from their sockets. He knew where he was… the Gate. He moved one leg, then another. The light was slowly fading in the distance and he reached out his hand to it. "I'm… not being taken by the gate," he croaked out. "Never… __AGAIN!"__ He jumped with all his might towards the fading light and felt the black arms slide off his own and his vision faded to black as he passed through the fading light. _

_

* * *

_

"Alphonse still hasn't been found," Riza whispered to Roy where they were standing in the kitchen. "It's been enough time for Alphonse to show." She shook her head sadly and peered out the kitchen to the couch in the living room, where Edward was lying.

"This isn't good," Roy muttered. His black eyes flashed in anger as he paced around the kitchen. "It's been five years since Ed and Al both went through the gate… what the bloody hell happened?" He turned his head as the sound of glass shattering came out of the bedroom. He and Riza both rushed to the room to find the woman leaning up against the wall and had accidently knocked a picture off the wall. She stumbled forward to them and Roy caught her before she fell down to the floor in exhaustion.

The woman coughed and looked up at the strange man. "Roy… Roy Mustang?" she croaked out. She ignored the man's look of surprise and glanced at the woman behind him. She was guessing that she was Riza Hawkeye, who Edward had also described to her. "Edward?" she asked, wanting to know how he was. She watched for their reaction. Roy grimaced and started to bring Noa into the room to show her Edward while Riza followed silently, stepping over the broken glass.

Noa clenched onto Roy's arm, not letting herself read his mind. She took a sharp intake of breath when she saw Edward. She let go of Roy and rushed over to the sick young man. She fell to her knees beside him and shook her head sadly, taking his hand in hers. He looked like he was breathing normally, but he was so pale… "Edward," she whispered in his ear. "_Ich bin __hier_," she whispered. "I'm here."

His metal fingers twitched in hers and she looked quickly at his face and saw his eyes struggling to open. "D_u bist in deiner Welt,"_ she said, trying to rouse him. "You are in your world."

His eyes flashed open, his golden eyes faded. "Gah," he croaked and shut his eyes again, then opened them. "Noa? _Wo __ist__ Alphonse_?" he said. "Where is Alphonse?" What he said sounded like _Bo __ich __Alpons_, but Noa understood it enough.

She shook her head and put a finger to his lips. "_Schlaf_, Edward," she whispered. "Sleep." And Edward did exactly that. She leaned forward and placed her forehead against his, something that she hadn't done in five years, but only this time she didn't feel guilty about it. She needed to know if Edward remembered what had happened to them. She saw a bright flash and long black hands comb over Edward's, Alphonse's, and her body and suck them into a dark doorway. That's all that Edward had in his mind, nothing relating to Alphonse. That was all that she had remembered, too. She slowly stood up, feeling her energy return faintly. She turned to Roy and Riza, who were staring at her confusedly. "Thank you," she said in English.

Riza nodded and walked towards the kitchen and pointed to a piece of bread. "Food?" she said and pointed to the woman. The woman nodded and had Roy help her over to the table. Riza started to heat up some leftover soup that she had while Roy sat down across from the woman.

Roy pointed to himself. "I am Roy Mustang, as you already seem to know." The woman nodded her head, understanding his name. He pointed to Riza. "That is Riza Hawkeye." Riza nodded to the woman, and again the woman nodded. Roy pointed to her and asked, "What's your name?"

"Noa," the woman said, pointing to herself. Noa slowly looked down at the piece of bread in front of her and gingerly ripped a small piece from it. Meanwhile, Roy started talking to Riza.

"Her name is Noa, she speaks a different language, Edward knows the language, Alphonse is missing, what else could go wrong?" Roy sighed to her. He crossed is arms and leaned backwards against the chair, closing his eyes. "And I was supposed to be able to have half a day off tomorrow… I mean, today," he sighed, knowing that it was around dawn."Barely any sleep once again," he muttered.

Riza nodded, feeling about the same as him. Noa had puked throughout the first hour, then she finally stopped and slept through the hours, fever slowly going down. Riza didn't leave her side very often. Edward had puked all throughout the night and Roy was thankful when Edward only started to have dry heaves, as it had been a pain in the ass to wipe the puke from his clothes and the floor. Now at five o'clock in the morning, Edward had finally stopped and was sleeping, though his fever still was burning.

"Say Riza, wasn't Winry in town?" Roy opened his eyes, remembering the fact. "She was going to sell some of her automail here, correct?"

Riza nodded, though she seemed hesitant. "Would it be wise for Winry to see Edward right now? I mean…" she looked back at Edward and Noa. She sighed.

"You don't think…" Roy let his sentence dwindle. Edward and Noa could be a couple right now? He let that question hang, knowing that Riza was also thinking it. He shook his head. "No matter. Let's bring Winry in."

"I'll let you go retrieve her," Riza sat down at the table, placing hot soup in front of Noa who gave a small nod and began to eat slowly. "I don't know if I trust to leave you alone with a woman," she grinned.

Roy stood up and walked behind Riza, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Riza, you don't trust me? I'm hurt," he joked and placed a kiss on the side of Riza's neck. "I'll be back as fast as I can." He knew that Riza wouldn't mind him being with Winry; because Winry was ferocious with that wrench of hers… he shuddered. It probably wasn't a good idea to wake her up at five, either…. But he went to get her anyways.

Riza watched him go and sighed when the door closed.

* * *

Winry hit her alarm clock with a loud bang and fearing that she broke another one; she lifted it up and looked at the clock. Dang, she had broken it. Sighing, she placed it aside to try to fix it later on and she lifted herself up stiffly. Five o'clock was an ungodly hour of the morning, she grumbled to herself. Why did she want to sell her automail to the clerk at six? Perhaps it was a bad idea… she rubbed her tired eyes and stood up heading towards the kitchen to grab her coffee. 

Thirty minutes later she was sitting at her kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee and finishing her breakfast. She closed her book that she was reading, which was of course a book on automail that she was reading through quickly. Setting the book aside, she went over and placed her dishes in the sink and bristled when she heard a knock on the door. Who would knock this early? She grabbed her wrench that was on the table and she walked towards the door, peeping through the hole. When she saw who it was, she opened the door quickly and took in the sight of a weary Roy Mustang.

"Hello Roy," Winry said. She looked at his messy clothes and un-kept hair and frowned. "What happened?"

Roy glanced down warily at her wrench then looked at her confused blue eyes. "I need to show you something."

Winry gripped the door handle; this couldn't be good. "What…?"

"It's Edward," Roy said bluntly and watched Winry gasp and turn pale. "I found him last night outside the Military building. He was unconscious and a woman was partly carrying him. Both were covered in scratches and both had fevers. They're at Riza's right now and the woman, Noa, is doing better and she's eating. Edward is still unconscious…"

Winry walked back into her room and closed a door; a minute later she came out with a white sleeveless shirt and brown pants. She threw a jacket around her shoulders and weaved her hands through her hair, getting out the messy knots while heading out the door. "Take me to him," she said lightly. Roy nodded and they were off.

* * *

Noa sat next to Edward, leaning her head against the couch near his hand. She started to slowly doze off but jerked awake when a hand touched her shoulder. She looked up to see a worried young woman with blond hair and clouded blue eyes smile sadly down at her. Noa looked back at Roy, who sat down on a chair exhausted, while Riza walked over and placed her hands on his shoulders and started to give him a massage. Noa looked back at the blond young woman and recognized her from Edward's mind. She was Winry Rockbell, the woman who had given him his automail. Noa moved out of the way so Winry could see Edward and she sighed, wanting to see how Winry acted around Ed. 

Winry glanced down at the unconscious form that she had not seen in five years. His hair was longer than it had been and from its bright sheen it was greasy for not being clean for so a few days, and his eyes were shut tight. She placed a hand on Edward's forehead, moving his bangs aside, remembering the face that she always wanted to make laugh. Her eyes filled with tears. "Edward…" He didn't move when she said his name. She wiped her eyes and grimaced when she took note of the heat penetrating from his skin. "He has a high fever, all right." She took a cool rag and placed it against his cheek and then laid it on his forehead. She went to unbutton his shirt. "I'm going to check his automail. It's been five years and he might not have been able to take care of his automail properly. I don't want his automail to be giving him an infection of any sorts."

She took his arm out of the sleeve and laid it across his chest. At first look of his automail it looked brand new, save for a few scratches here and there. She traced her fingers along the part where automail met skin and it felt as it should have. Winry stared in awe at the automail. "He kept it in perfect condition," she whispered. She shook her head in amazement and moved down to his leg. She tore at the part where the automail started and ripped it all the way down. Again, the automail was in perfect condition.

She looked back at Roy and Riza. "It's just a normal fever affecting him. The automail is still intact, which is amazing really, seeing as how he couldn't keep it in tact for months years ago," she sighed, her anger sparking. It quickly subdued when Edward mumbled something intolerable and gripped her hand hard as if he was in pain.

"All we can do is wait," Winry said. "Just until he wakes up." She turned back to Roy and Riza. "You guys can go get rest. I'll take over for a few hours."

Roy nodded without protesting. "I'll be going to grab a fresh bite and make nap a few hours."

Riza grabbed his jacket and handed it to him. Roy leaned over and gave her a quick kiss then said, "Now you get some sleep too, Riza."

"Yes sir," Riza sighed. Roy left and Riza headed to her room and shut the door, leaving Winry and Noa alone to a sick Edward.

Winry buttoned up Edward's shirt and covered him in a blanket, then sat down on the floor next to Noa, leaning against the couch. "It's been five years," she murmured aloud. "Five long years." Tears welled up in her eyes once more. "Once again the brothers are split up, they're in pain, and I can do nothing but wait. Just _wait_." A tear poured down her face, then another.

Noa shook her head sadly and placed a hand on Winry's shuddering shoulder, wishing she could understand.

**It's been five years and ya'll thought that Roy and Riza would still have nothing going on? ;) They're not married in this story, but they're defiantly a couple :) **

**I'm sorry… I wanted to post this chapter sooner, but I didn't feel like writing it till now…**** I really don't have a set plot in my mind right now which is a really bad way to start. DX B****ut anyways, thanks for**** reviewing!! **


	3. Awakening

**Italics (except at the beginning) means talking in German for sentences that I don't know how to translate. Thanks to the anonymous user 'german speaker' for correcting my mistakes on the first two chapters! **

_Alphonse struggled to open his eyes against the heaviness that were on them. He coughed and moved his hand to cover his mouth. Good, he felt his hand. Even better, he could move it. He rubbed his face and heaved a great sigh. He was alive. He didn't know how, but he was. Opening his eyes slowly and gathering himself to his feet, he gazed at the landscape. Sand surrounded all sides of him and he looked around for any sign of a building in the distance. He saw a faded form off in the horizon and he started trudging through the sand, realizing that he was back in Liore._

* * *

Edward blinked, then blinked again. He didn't recognize the pale white ceiling above him. He turned his head and saw Noa laying in a chair, curled up in a tight ball, a peaceful expression on her face with her dark hair spilled halfway across her face. He looked back up to the ceiling and sighed quietly. Where exactly was he? Why was he here? How in the world did he get here? He closed his eyes and tried to recall what happened before this. He had been talking with Noa, Al, and Hans, a young man who they had known for several years now. He traveled along with them on their journeys… now where was he? Hans had been showing them some old books they found by Nicholas Flamel, and he had been talking about how Alchemy worked. Hans didn't seem too interested in it and Ed hadn't minded telling him about it. 

Then there had been that bright flash. Right after it had blinded them, Edward had gotten hit with something and now he was here. Hedidn't remember seeing the gate... not even a vague memory. How long had he been out now?

And what had Noa said? He was in his world? Edward laughed, a bit disappointed in his self-believing. Of course he couldn't be in Amestris. It was now impossible. He shook his head and placed his bare feet slowly on the ground. He hadn't realized it, but he stank and his hair felt horrid. He was in a white T-shirt and black shorts, both not belonging to him. His Automail still looked the same, which he was grateful for.

A sound clanked from the room next to the one he was in, and he walked silently to the door. He peeked through and stopped when he saw the form of someone he knew so well. Blonde hair tied up in a ponytail fell down just past the shoulders with a white tank top hugging the slender form and loose black Capri's. He put a hand on the doorframe. "Winry," he whispered. But he shook his head; as he had said, it was impossible. This had to be the parallel Winry. Besides, the Winry he had known didn't have hair that short.

But things could change in five years, right?

Nah.

He stepped in the kitchen. "Entschuldigung… _Where am I_?"

Winry bristled as she heard his voice. She stopped washing the dishes and turned around, her eyes full of mixed emotions. "Hey. You're up."

Edward nodded and repeated his question in English. "Where am I?"

"You're home," Winry smiled slightly. She set the dish down and started drying her hand on a towel. She stopped drying her hands when she saw Edward frown. She took a step closer. "Ed?"

Edward's eyes became full of recognition. "Winry? You mean…" he gulped and looked straight at her. "You mean I'm back in Amestris?" At her nod, he went on. "But how!?" He turned and looked at Noa, who had jerked awake. He started heading towards her but stopped when the front door opened and Roy Mustang stepped through the door, who stopped in midstep when he saw Edward.

"Hey," he said lightly and closed the door behind him.

Edward looked down at the ground, fists clenched. "What happened?" he said. "Alphonse?" He knew there was no need to ask; they did not know where he was.

"Alphonse ist nicht hier," Noa said, walking over. "_He wasn't there when I woke up_."

"_What about Hans? He should have come over too, then. He was right there when whatever happened_."

"Ich weiß es nicht." Noa shook her head sadly. "I don't know."

Roy looked at the both of them and put his hands in his pockets, a content smile on his face. "Welcome back, Ed." Just then Riza came out of her room, smelling fresh from the shower.

"Ed!" She said and smiled. "How are you feeling?"  
Edward glared at the two. "To put in frankly, like shit." He closed his eyes and yelled angrily, "I didn't… I wasn't ready to return!"

"But Ed…!" Roy said, but Riza put a hand on his shoulder to quiet him.

"Why, Edward?" she asked, giving a sorrowful look at Ed.

Edward leaned against the wall, feeling ready to black out. He couldn't think straight. Trying to collect his thoughts, he said, "The reason being… I thought that we were done. With Alchemy, with everything. We could live a life that we wanted in a whole new world." He looked at Noa. "And now we're back here."

Winry took a step foreword, a sad look on her face. "But what about us? We were still here."

"Do you realize," Edward began, "that when I went to destroy the Gate, I had not seen any way to return here!? I moved on; I got over it." He looked back at Winry. "Don't you see why?"

She shook her head. "Maybe I just won't accept the fact that you didn't even feel the need to return back," she said. She went back to washing the dishes, a hurt expression on her face.

Edward grimaced; he had gone too far.

"Do you mean all those things you've said?" Roy asked firmly.

"For the most part, yes," Edward replied. He looked shamefully back at Roy. "It was just a shock." He shook his head. "I'm thinking irrationally." He rubbed his head and slumped against the wall, about ready to fall down. He groaned and was caught by Roy who helped him over to the couch. Edward quickly sat down and didn't bother to thank Roy.

"I don't think you should stand up yet," Roy said. He let go of Edward and sat down on a chair next the couch. "But I think you're healthy enough to tell some of your story."

Noa sat down on the chair she had been sleeping on and sighed. Another conversation that she couldn't understand.

Edward nodded slightly. "I'll agree to that." He knew that they had really known nothing of the cause five years ago with the attack on Central... he wouldn't tell them the full story of that yet, either.

Riza went to go help Winry finish the dishes, but they both kept their ears open to listen to Edward speak. They tried to wash as silently as they could.

"As you know by now, that's Noa," Edward said, closing his eyes. "She's a friend that I met while I was over there, in Germany. She was the one partially responsible for opening of the gate, and well, you know how it ended. Anyways, as soon as we got back, we destroyed the gate. It was no easy process, mind you, but after much gunfire, it was gone. After that, we made it back to our hotel, and Alphonse…" Edward hesitated and opened his eyes, a strained look in them. "He was amazed by the world. It's really not that much different from here, just no alchemy and advanced technology. Anyways, we lived in Munich for a while, picking up odd jobs here and there to have an income.

"The deal with the Uranium bomb that was brought over to Germany…" Edward looked at Roy. "We didn't discover it for awhile. When we found it, we didn't even know how to get rid of it, so we had to get someone to destroy it for us. We found out that in order for it to just break down it would take hundreds of thousands of years, and we didn't really have that much time on our hands," Edward laughed, though it wasn't humorous.

"To make it short- we found Hans, who taught us how to deplete it into other un-harmful elements. We became good friends with Hans, and eventually began to travel around to different places with each other. Noa also came along. It was a good time. Alphonse learned the language quickly and blended in immediately; he had a better time adjusting to it than me." Edward shook his head sadly. "Well, Hans showed us some new stories about Nicholas Flamel and that's about the last thing I remember. I don't even remember the gate," he finished, whispering.

"Well, Ed, I can give you good news," Roy said, progressing all the information in his head for later discussion. "Alphonse has been found in Liore." Edward's look of relief was unmistakable. "He's not hurt, save for few scratches here and there. And that's all the information that I received this morning."

"Why Liore?" Edward muttered, but grateful that Alphonse was alright. "Why did he not land here with us?" He crossed his arms and stared angrily up at the ceiling.

"Who knows?" Roy shrugged. "Answers will be given in due time. Now, about Hans… do you expect him to be also here?"

"Possibly," was the response.

"What's the language you learned, Edward?" that question came from Riza, who came into the living room drying her hands with a already wet red towel. Winry didn't follow after her.

"It's German. It's easy once you get the basics down," Edward sighed. "Alright, I'm tired and you've pestered me enough. Leave me to think."

Roy growled. "Just because you're miraculously back doesn't give you permission to give orders."

"Ah right, Noa!" Edward remembered and turned to Noa, who was fiddling with her fingers, quite bored. "_Alphonse is alright_!"

Noa smiled. "_Really_?" She was glad that he was fine; she knew that Edward would be heartbroken if something had happened to him.

"Ja!" Edward looked back at Roy. "When does he come over here?"

"Armstrong and Rose Thomas are bringing him back," Roy confirmed, who looked over at Noa. His black eyes flickered over her face and down her body and back up, recognizing her. "She looks an awful lot like Rose."

"You could say she is Rose- just the parallel version of her, except Noa can read minds," Edward grinned. "She knows your whole history by touching you."

Roy's face turned slightly red. "Everything?"

"_**Everything**_," Edward grinned wider, guessing that Roy had some very dark secrets he did not want to share. What they might be, he was not so sure.

Roy shook his head. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Just don't let it out in the open," Edward said. "It got her into trouble in Germany. That and because she's a Gypsy, which could rival an Ishbalin here." He closed his eyes and groaned. "Ok, now leave me alone," he said, feeling a headache coming on.

"Fine, but eventually we'll have to announce that you've returned, Ed," Roy said and stood up, putting his hands in his coat's pockets.

"You can do that when I'm healthier and cleaner," Edward mumbled.

"You owe me for this, Fullmetal. You're going to get one hell of a welcome back party."

"Yeah, whatever…" Edward turned his face towards the couch and slowly drifted off to sleep, with Roy heading back towards the Military building and Riza trying to communicate with Noa.

* * *

_The man hugged his knees closely in the dark alley, feeling another brisk breeze against his skin. Was he actually here? Was this Shamballa? He had heard that the Thule Society had tried to get to Shamballa through Edward's mysterious powers, but neither Edward nor Alphonse had talked about Alchemy and such. Of course, the Elric brothers didn't know about how Hans was related to the Thule Society and what part he played in it; they never would. They thought the Thule Society was diminished; but it was not. Through his friendship with the Elric brothers he had learned nothing, but was still able to do his job, which he was proud of. But he wasn't supposed to go over with the Elric brothers. He sighed. The Gate had shown right on time; the sacrifice already made. _

_He might as well find Ed and Al and continue to live a normal life, until that day would come. That day that would change both Shamballa's and Earth's way of living. He grinned and leaned against the cold wall, thinking of that day._

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks to redneckgal who gave me some advice, which I followed ;) I went ahead and took a break and thought the story out. This chapter wasn't too exciting ('cept Ed woke up! D) but I think it turned out alright... I'm still not 100 happy with it. And a new character was introduced: Hans, who'll show up in later chapters. Anyways, please enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! And the chapters should be updated quicker, but who knows.

And thank you for reviewing, too!!

German used:

Entschuldigung - Excuse me


	4. News

**I like how I said 'and the chapters should be updated a lot quicker' in the last chapter...**

**Well I fail. Ha-ha. **

* * *

"You're kidding," Edward grumbled as he stuffed his mouth with a piece of bread. "No way will I let that happen." He glared at Roy who sat on the opposite side of the table, who shrugged his shoulders.

Roy took a slight sip from his coffee and set the cup down, staring down at the steaming light brown liquid. "Even if you like it or not, you're still a part of the military. Just because you went missing in action doesn't mean that you got kicked out." He grinned evilly at Edward. "Just think of all the fun times you had with the Military."

"Yeah, and boy did I love being the dog of the Military," sighed Edward, then wiped his mouth on the backside of his hand. "I won't officially announce my name to the public until I know that Alphonse is here." He looked back at Roy, eyeing him suspiciously. "Are you going to try to recruit him?"

"Only if he wants to," Roy answered back.

"There is no harm in being in the Military," Riza said, walking into the kitchen. "We are in a time of peace right now and you won't have Military officers constantly nagging at you. You'll be able to do as you please unless commanded otherwise."

"I have a perfect place to assign you, but I won't say until after you're welcomed back," Roy said. He stood up and chugged down the remaining remnants of his coffee.

"What type of welcome back are you thinking of?" Edward asked slowly.

"You'll see," Roy said, putting both hands in pockets. "Alphonse should be here later today. You can meet him at the train station at 4 o'clock. Rose Thomas has decided to accompany him. Give them both my greetings." Roy turned to go. "Report to my office by 5 o'clock and bring what you have with you. You're going to stay in a Military dorm so Riza can have her house back."

"Alright," Edward replied. He watched both Riza and Roy leave, and then stood up when the door closed. "4 o'clock, huh..." _It's strange_, he thought, _how Alphonse ended up all the way over there. It just doesn't make sense. _He walked out of the room and sat in the living room, glancing up at the clock. They had several hours until they had to go pick up Alphonse. He twiddled his thumbs impatiently and turned his head toward the bedroom door that opened.

"Noa, _you awake_?" He asked, smelling the clean smell of a shower.

"Ja," came a hesitant voice. "_I don't like the clothes that Riza gave me_."

"_Did she give you pants or something?"_ Edward asked.

Noa walked out of the room, clad in loose black Capri's and a form fitting white t-shirt. "_It's too different," _she said.

Edward laughed lightly. "_It's fine. Clothes are different here, but I'm sure you'll get used to it. Do you have a jacket? I was thinking of walking around town for a little bit. I don't like being stuck in a room for too long."_

"_Won't they recognize you?"_ Noa said, knowing that his automail arm would be obvious. He was dressed in black pants and a red long sleeve shirt, with currently bare feet. "_I thought you didn't want..."_

He shrugged. "_It'll be fine. I'll just wear a cap. Now, how about Winry? Is she awake_?"

Noa nodded. "Ja, _but she's still lying in her sleeping bag."_

"I'll go get her up," Edward sighed. "_Go ahead and grab a bite to eat_." He passed by Noa and went into the room and slowly walked to where Winry was laying on the ground, arm over face, probably trying to block out the light. "Winry!" He whispered and kneeled down beside her.

She mumbled something intolerable in reply.

"Winry," he repeated, though lengthening the syllables. "Get up!" He poked her arm and watched her do nothing. He sighed. "Yo, automail freak." Quickly a wrench was taken from under the pillow and landed briskly on his head. He gave a yelp and landed backwards on his behind, rubbing his sore head.

"What do you want?" Winry asked, a bit of anger in her voice, though Edward sensed that the anger was leftover from two days ago from when he had first woken up. She was still angry at him.

Edward got up and sat on the bed next to them and leaned over, put his elbows on his knees and put his hands together. "I'm really sorry for what I said two days ago," Edward said, looking down at the ground.

"Ah, _now_ you're sorry. I see," Winry muttered. She sat up and placed the wrench back under the pillow. "You know, I had given up on you returning. Or at least tried to. I thought... that if you had ever returned, you'd be happy."

"I am happy," Edward cut in. "But you have to realize that I'm still upset at once again switching worlds. I plan to never go back to Germany. But I also said 'I can never go back to Amestris' when I got to Germany. I don't know what will happen in the future," Edward whispered. "But somehow I got through that gate and no sacrifice was made as far as I know. Hans hasn't been found, so maybe he was the sacrifice. I just don't know."

"Well, can you make me a promise?" Winry said, sitting down next to him. At Edward's nod, she continued, "Promise to never go back. To anywhere." She laughed quietly, but it sounded sad. "I'm getting tired of explaining everything to Granny."

Edward laughed. "Fine, I promise." Truth is, is that he felt something was once again going to happen... for good or bad, he didn't know. Winry was a friend and he was tired of hurting her. "Anyways, it's too early in the morning to discuss this. Now that I got you less upset, we're going to go walk around town. You have some automail you wanted to sell, right?"

* * *

"Ugh," Winry sighed. So far she hadn't been able to sell one piece of automail. They had all admired her work, but they said they needed no more parts. Central was a place where many people sold lots and lots of automail. Maybe living out in Resembool was the best place to sell it for the people who lived out there... She shook her head. She came here to sell, not complain. The automail she had made was made for people of average size and it should sell quite well. She headed into the next shop, telling Edward and Noa that she would be back quickly.

"_It's almost four_," Edward told Noa. "_Alphonse is coming with a woman whose name is Rose. She sort of looks like you_."

"_Really?"_ Noa asked. "_That'll be interesting."_

Edward leaned against the window, nodding. "_She also has a child... though I never learned the name of him. He should be around... seven, maybe?" _He shrugged.

A siren sounded off and a car passed quickly by them, with some people running after it. "I wonder what the commotion is..." He walked quickly after a man and grabbed his sleeve. "What's going on?"

The man turned back to look at him and stopped walking. "A man was found lying on the ground and he appears to be sick. Apparently he speaks a language that no one understands and he's beginning to freak out a lot of people."

_Hans?_ "In what way?" Edward asked.

"He seems to be shouting out a name Edward Elric, the Alchemist who disappeared five years ago. Everyone knows that the Alchemist is gone, yet this man seems to be insisting that he's alive, which he says in English," said the man. "Now excuse me, I want to go see what's happening."

"Great," Edward muttered. _It's definitely Hans. At least he's alive._ He motioned to Noa and Winry who just walked out to follow him, and he started running at a fast pace. Quickly he passed the man and noticed the car stop a few blocks ahead of him. He picked up his pace and was there in half a minute. He slowed down and caught his breath as he gazed at Hans lying down against a building, wearing very dirty clothes and his hair was messy. The police was surrounding him, ready to put him on a stretcher.

"Wait a minute!" Edward called out and walked his way up to the policemen. "I know this man." He kneeled down beside Hans and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hans? _Are you alright_?"

"_I feel sick_, Edward," Hans muttered and held his stomach.

"_Yeah, passing through the gate can do that to you_," Edward said. "_Here, I'll take you into this restaurant. A drink should help you."_

Hans nodded and accepted the hand that Edward held out.

"He's alright," Edward said to the policemen. "He's just nauseated. I'll make sure he gets home safely."

"Hans!" Noa ran up, shouting his name. She grabbed him in a hug and quickly released him, gazing worriedly at his sweaty face. "_You're alive! I'm so glad_!"

"_Of course I'm alive_," Hans grumbled at her.

Noa grabbed his arm and helped Edward bring him into restaurant. The policemen slowly backed off, confused. One policeman took a step forward hesitantly, "Edward Elric, sir?"

Edward ignored him. "Well, thanks to you Hans, they now know it's me," he muttered to Hans.

"_How long did you think it would take them to find out, Ed? Your golden eyes are unmistakable and all your blonde hair isn't hidden much from that cap. What's up with the cap anyways? It's strange_," Hans muttered back, sitting quickly down in the nearest chair.

"_It's called a beanie_," Edward sighed. He turned to Winry, who was trying to catch her breath. "Winry, this is Hans. Hans, this is Winry. Use your English." He walked off to order some hot food and water.

"My English isn't very good," Hans sighed, but looked up at slightly confused Winry through bleary and unfocused eyes. "Pleased to meet you, Winry," he held out a wobbly hand and shook her hand once as firmly as he could, then let it fall to his side. "A glass of water, anything?"

"Here," Edward came back and handed a glass to him. "Drink slowly."

Hans complied and drank until it was half full. "So we're in your world, huh Ed? How'd we get here?"

"I thought you would be able to explain that," Edward sighed angrily. "And how do you know it's my world?"

"I was just slightly kidding," Hans said, cursing at himself for letting that slip. "So... we _are_ in a different world? You're joking, right?"

Edward shook his head. "Nope. And you're probably stuck here for the rest of your life, Hans. I'll explain everything later to you."

"Right," Hans mumbled. He watched as some food was placed in front of him a few minutes later and slowly took a sip of the soup. Ah, it felt so good to eat after two days without food... Halfway into eating his food, he took notice of a presence not there. Hmm... Alphonse was gone. He'd not ask where he was now...

"_Are you well enough to walk some distance_?" Noa asked him after he was done eating. "_We have to pick up Alphonse from the train station_."

"_Yes, I noticed he had gone. I think I can walk a bit, but I want to sleep once we pick him up_," Hans said and stood up. "_Let's go_."

Edward looked outside the window and sighed. "Why are all those people waiting by the door?"

"The news got out that Edward Elric has returned," Winry said. "A lot of people admire you, Ed, for going back and 'sacrificing' yourself to close the gate and stop the machines from coming into Amestris."

"I don't exactly care if I have their admiration. Well, let's go," Edward opened the door and brushed past all the people. "This is crazy," he mumbled to himself. Sure, his long hair wasn't all that contained by his hat and his automail hand was visible. The people dwindled off after he past them, and the group continued their walk to the train station.

* * *

"How do you feel to be back in Central, Al?" Rose asked, stepping next to him by the train.

Alphonse scratched his brown hair and laughed. "I'm very happy, actually. I lived four years of my life basically in and out of Central and I can actually feel at home here." He picked up the luggage and gazed down at the boy that stood next to Rose. "Are you excited to be in Central for the first time you'll remember, Kain?"

"Yep!" Kain, Rose's son, said. He looked up to his mother. "Are we going to meet the Full Metal Alchemist now?"

Rose laughed and patted her son's head. "Yes, we are." She smiled fondly at him and let her eyes flicker up and look around at the faces around her.

"Al!" the voice of Edward called out.

"Hey Ed!" Alphonse shouted eagerly back. He walked towards his brother and grinned at him. "How are you?"

"I should be asking you that," Edward said and crossed his arms. "I'm fine, and so is Noa. We found Hans not too long ago." Edward motioned behind him to Hans who was walking up beside Noa and Winry.

"Guten tag Al!" Hans said, shaking hands with him. Noa did the same, except hugged him lightly.

"Tag Hans und Noa!" Alphonse turned to Winry. "Hello Winry, what are you doing here in Central?"

"Selling automail," Winry shrugged. "Hey Rose, I'm happy to see you!" She and Rose hugged and Winry turned to Kain. "You've grown a lot since I've seen you!"

Kain grinned up at her. "How do you do, Miss Winry?"

"Wow, Rose really does look like Noa," Alphonse commented once he saw the two women next to each other. He introduced them to each other and they shook hands. Rose walked up to Edward and grinned at him.

"It's been awhile, Ed," she said.

"Yeah, it has. Is that your son?" Edward asked. At Rose's nod, he held out his hand to the boy. "Hey Kain, I'm Edward Elric."

"So the Full Metal Alchemist did return!" Kain said joyfully.

"Isn't this just the happy reunion," came the sarcastic voice of Jean Havoc. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out the smoke. "Long time no see. I've been given orders to drive you up to the Military." He opened the door. "Get in, though it's going to be a tight fit."

* * *

Roy watched as the Edward, Alphonse, and Hans piled into his office and he motioned for them to sit down in the seats he had prepared. He gazed at the man that stood next to Edward, frowning at him. Something wasn't right about him... he shrugged and stood up, shaking hands with the man. "I'm Roy Mustang."

"Hans," the man said.

Roy turned to look at Edward and Alphonse. "So... dates have been set and invitations have been made," Roy grinned. "Welcome back, boys."

"Wait, wait, wait! What date or invitations?" Edward asked. "Is it a welcome back party or something?"

"Of course! You're allowed to invite five friends and all higher-ups and people under my jurisdiction are coming to the party. It's next Saturday," Roy said. "Ed, since you're still in the Military, you'll get a new uniform. You're not a young boy anymore so you have to follow Military dress code. After you leave, talk to my secretary and she'll take your measurements.

"I've already sent an article about your return to the press; the whole city will know that you've returned by morning. We know that it may not be smart letting whoever brought you over here know that you're alive, but your name is bound to come out sooner or later, like it did this afternoon. Just be on your guard. Alphonse?"

"Uh, yes?" Alphonse quickly said.

"Do you wish to join the Military or not? Don't worry, I'll let you think it over as long as you want to. But we'd be happy to have you with us," Roy continued speaking without stopping. "Now, the three of you best leave and prepare to dress nice and bring a date to the party. Those three women out there are beautiful; I'd suggest that you'd pick one of them. Arrive at the front door at a little before six; the party doesn't start until then. Oh, and learn a few dance moves, it might help. For now your mission is to find how you guys got over here. We don't want another war." He ushered the two speechless men out of his room, laughing at their confused faces. He turned to Hans and put a hand on his shoulder, ushering him out. "The same applies to you. Got all that?"

"Yeah," Hans replied. "No worries."

"Good! I'm also glad that there is no complaining..."

"But-"Edward said, regaining his voice.

"I take that back. Go on Edward, you have a lot of planning ahead of you. Here's four keys; go to Room 106 in the Military dorms and that'll be yours for now. The ladies have the room right across from it, Room 107. Here are the keys. I'll see you next Saturday," Roy said, smiling evilly at them. He shut the door to his office and the hallway was silent.

"Um," Alphonse laughed nervously. "That was interesting. But come on brother, we need to get your measurements and head to the bank to grab some money."

"Right," Edward said hesitantly. "Is it just me, or does Mustang enjoy ruining my life?"

"The latter," Alphonse shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

Edward followed Alphonse to the secretary, cursing the Colonel. A party... and with dancing? Yeah right... What was that blockhead thinking?

* * *

**Haha I love Roy Mustang and his character! It's so fun to write him! (Yet I don't have any stories that only focus on him, hmm)**

**Though I do have a FMA one shot coming out, currently untitled, but it's half completed. I'm writing it to be my 30****th**** story on here. Yipee! **

**Hoped you enjoyed :) **


	5. Plan

"I don't think that we should be having a party while a maniac could be on the loose! Remember Dietlinde Eckhart? We weren't as careful as we should have been… She was able to open the gate and she was a pure maniac!"

Alphonse shrugged his shoulders while half listening to his older brother's argument. "I don't think that the so called 'maniac' would show up in front of everyone at a dance, brother." They were currently walking to the dorm and they had been discussing this ever since they left.

"That's why I said _maniac_. They could do anything," was Edward's retort.

"Alright boys, that's enough," Rose sighed. She stopped in front of her room and opened it quickly, walking in. She turned back around, hands on hips. "Alphonse, you and Hans need to go and buy some nice suits. I'll go with the girls… Ed, since you already have your suit ordered, can you watch Kain for us?"

"I'm not a babysitter," Edward said and shook his head definitely. "I…"

Hans crossed his arms and started speaking, cutting Edward off. "I'm out for today- I'll get my suit later. Have fun watching Kain, Ed," Hans said and walked into his room and shut the door.

"He's exhausted," commented Alphonse softly. "But sooner or later people are going to ask where he's from."

"So we'll just make up a story. It'll be fine," Edward shrugged.

"_Ich glaube.._. We'll be leaving now, Ed," Alphonse said. "We'll be back here in a few hours." They left without much further words, except for the talk of what dresses the girls were going to get. Edward watched them go, then looked down at Kain who was leaning against the wall, just a tad bored.

"Well Kain, what do you want to do?"

He shrugged.

Edward tried again – he wasn't fond of taking care of kids. "I know a small park around here. We can walk around there and show you some things in Central." He succeeded in persuading Kain; and they were off.

* * *

Hans collapsed on his bed, all energy sucked out of him. He groaned and cursed the headache that was coming upon him, rubbing slowly at his throbbing forehead. He was still sick and he felt terrible… he would recover it due time, there was no worry about that. Shaking his head, his eyes looked at the window and the world outside. Dietlinde Eckhart had been right. There was a world on the other side. _Shamballa._

Thankfully, she hadn't been able to destroy it like she planned.

Training under Dietlinde had been like a dream to him; he learned many things about science, and in time, the history of alchemy. He had even met Hohenheim, who was a brilliant man and he was sad to see him gone. Hohenheim had to be the human sacrifice to open the gate… and that had dragged Edward into it.

He had first seen Edward when he came crashing through the window and landed harshly on the ground. Hans had been hiding in the shadows; Dietlinde hadn't wanted him to be seen just yet. He watched the bloody scene of the father being torn into bits, the excess falling down into the lower levels. Edward was shot; he somehow survived and took a plane up to Shamballa… many of them followed.

He stayed and watched the ships come back and Edward stumble out of the wreckage. He watched Dietlinde walking out, seemingly possessed by some strange life form… She died, almost killing his dreams along with her death. She knew everything, she taught him many things and he hadn't known how to continue on in research. He then dedicated himself to researching Shamballa and all of Dietlinde's findings… He had found some notes of Dietlinde's that led him to form a plan.

And eventually, Edward came to _him_.

Hans saw a way to open the gate, a plan to use no sacrifice. It had been tricky, but he had found out a way. He silently gazed at a clean, long cut along his arm. It was covered with a scab and he eager to scratch it off and relieve himself from the persisting itch. It was indeed a strange sacrifice, but it worked.

He had figured out a way to _trick_ the gate.

_Ugh,_ he had to stop thinking about it. The throbbing in his head kept getting worse and worse. Finally, he grumbled and turned over to his side, wanting to get some decent sleep.

* * *

Edward glanced wearily at the kid walking in front of him. Kain had started pestering him with all these questions… he mostly wanted to know on how he met his mom and his side of the story. Of course, Edward told him that it was on one of his trips that he journeyed to Liore. Finally, Kain stopped walking and turned around, as if hesitantly. 

"She sure talks about you a lot," Kain said.

"Well, we went through a lot together – you were just a baby then. I'm sure you've heard the story," Edward shrugged.

"Yeah. She likes to talk about the tale of the Full Metal Alchemist and his brother and the journeys that they took – I mean, _you_ took."

"It isn't that great of a story."

Kain grinned. "To me it is." He started to walk forwards, but his step was still hesitant. He turned back around and gazed up at Edward. "She talks about you so much… are _you_ my father?"

Edward stopped in mid-stride, the surprising question stopping him. "… what?" the word came as a whisper and he slowly shook his head. "No…" Rose had told him that she loved him, but he had thought that she was under Dante's spell... did she really love him after all this time? And apparently Rose hadn't had the strength to talk to Kain about who the real father is… it was probably a very sore subject for her, and was not one question he was about to ask her. "I'm not, Kain."

Some disappointment filled Kain's face. "I stopped asking my mother who my father was… she always got upset when I did. But everyone has a father, all my friends except me…"

Edward was in a tight spot. He did not know how to console anybody, let alone a seven year old kid. "I'm sure that you'll have one soon," Edward tried to make his voice sound true, but he didn't know if he succeeded. But it had been enough, for Kain smiled and kept on walking.

"And when that Mr. Alphonse came," Kain said, "she was just so excited. I expected Mr. Alphonse to be a suit of armor because that is what most people know him as. But it was great meeting him! He transmuted some things for me…" Kain rambled on.

_That's right. Alchemy. _Edward hadn't really even thought of using it yet. He hadn't really the time to. "You said Alphonse made some things for you?" Edward asked Kain. At his nod, Edward bent down to the ground and picked up a small branch. Clapping his hands, he transformed the stick into a single, smooth whistle. With the Alchemy, he also created a small design on it, consisting of vines and a single skull at the base of the whistle. "Here," Edward smiled as he handed it to Kain. "It's a whistle."

"Wow!" Kain quickly took the new object and put it to his lips. A high note came out and Kain quickly stopped and gazed at the whistle. "It's cool!"

"Good," Edward nodded. Thankfully he hadn't lost his touch on his Alchemy…_ouch_. A quick pain across his eye flashed and he held his hand to his eye, rubbing the scab. That was one of the scratches he had gotten and it felt like it ripped open. Huh. _Maybe he had accidentally scrunched his eyes and it loosened the scab… _He looked at his hand and gazed at the line of blood on it. "Damn, I must've done _something_…" The bleeding slowly stopped and he kept following the rambling Kain, answering occasionally to his questions.

* * *

"So Alphonse…" Winry said, a small grin appearing on her face. "Meet anyone special over in Germany? I mean, if you did, how'd you get back to them?" 

"I really don't know… I always liked to tease Edward about settling down," Alphonse laughed. "It would always bug him. But neither him or I had anyone special." He quickly looked over Winry, wanting to see any relief on her face. But he didn't.

Winry kept her face straight. "That's good. At least you're not going to miss anyone too painfully."

"Yeah…" Alphonse sighed. "Well, I have my suit picked out. Good thing nothing has been done to our money here."

"Mhmm," Winry murmured.

"Are you going to join the Military, Al?" Rose said, coming over with her chosen dress in hand.

"We'll see," was Alphonse's reply. "Are you girls done yet?"

Winry nodded, holding her dress for the dance. Looking at all the dresses hanging up, she sighed. "There's so many of them. It's hard to pick."

"I've never thought of you as a person who'd like dresses, Winry," Rose commented.

Winry shrugged. "It's nice once in awhile. Anyways, Alphonse, come with me to translate. I want to see how Noa is doing."

Noa looked at the selection of clothing, trying to find just the right one. These were all so nice… different kinds of colors and all so beautiful… she finally settled on the one that she had tried on earlier and headed over to where the others were standing. She listened to their conversation, slowly comprehending the words they were saying. Her mind reading wasn't a curse at sometimes – she could go deep into the minds of other people and read what they're thinking and also _learn_ the words from their minds. It was taking her a bit to sort all the different words out, but she was catching on. Even the small quick touch of an arm could let her learn a few words.

"Noa,_you ready yet_?" Alphonse asked when he walked up to her. At her nod, he motioned all of them to the counter.

"That's a pretty dress, Noa," Winry smiled at her. "You'll look lovely in it."

Alphonse looked over his shoulder and translated for Noa, who smiled back at Winry. "Thank you," Noa said. "Yours… nice, also."

Winry's eyes widened a little bit. "You catch on quick."

"Her mind reading is probably helping out a whole lot," Alphonse laughed. He gathered the bags up and headed out the door, the women following him. "I wonder how Ed is doing."

"Probably just fine," Rose said. "Kain is probably keeping him on his feet…"

They walked down the street and past the playground. They stopped when they saw a familiar boy swinging on the swing set and Edward sitting on the swing next to him. He waved when he saw them coming over and stood up to glare impatiently at them.

"You sure took your time," Edward said, crossing his arms.

"I know… but thank you for watching Kain for me, Ed," Rose smiled at him, making eye contact.

Edward, reminded of the uncomfortable conversation a while ago, broke the eye contact and stared at the ground. "All right, let's head back. It's getting cold."

* * *

Hans sat up on his bed when he heard the door open and Edward and Alphonse walked in. He shook his head and grumbled, "can't you be a little more quiet, please?" He fell back down on his side and faced the wall. 

Edward shrugged and fell backwards on his bed and put his hands behind his head, sighing. Alphonse sat down on his own bed and took a book out of his pocket – one of his few belongings that came with him to Amestris. He began reading, the light sound of pages being flipped filling the room.

Hans closed his eyes. He desperately needed to know what date it was… he needed to put his plan into action. Taking out a piece of paper in his pocket, he read the lines slowly…

"_Hans-_

_If my plan does not succeed, you must find a way to open the gate again. Find any way, just do it. But it must be done by a certain date – December 30, 1928. I have a man that you must meet up with – Karl Feder. He will enter Shamballa with the other ships and stay hidden until the date of Dec. 30, 1928, where the destruction of Shamballa will take place if I do not succeed. You must find a way to destroy Shamballa for good. _

_Deitlinde Eckhart._

Of course Hans would find the man – the man who's crazy enough to sacrifice his life if Deitlinde succeeded in destroying Shamballa at that time… Hans had learned everything about Alchemy and he had studied the properties of the Uranium bomb – enough to let him build his own bombs. He didn't want this to be a suicide bombing – he must find a way to open up the gate on the 30th and save himself. Turning over, he put the letter back in his pocket and looked at Edward.

"What date is it?" he asked.

Edward blinked, then looked at Hans with a slightly confused expression. "I really don't know. That's what I'll do- I'll go get a paper." With that, he grabbed a coat and headed out the door. Hans got up and followed him. "I'll go with you… meanwhile, explain to me the outline of Central… the cities around it…" And Edward did just that, not suspecting any deception… he wasn't really expecting it, though. And _that_ was part of Han's plan.

**Merry Christmas!! Hopefully everyone had a fun one, and a white one! (We got our first white Christmas this year… it's already melting D:)**

**Sorry the chapter was late – really didn't mean for it to be this late. It took me several days to think this chapter out O.o**

**Jin the Wind Master – Hopefully the chapter answered your question. :) (Yes, he can.)**

**Thank you for the reviews!**


	6. Feelings

Edward adjusted his jacket and looked himself over in the mirror. He frowned, feeling that the blue Military suit didn't fit him. It was still a few days till the dance, but he was told to make sure it felt snug, which it did. He gazed at the yellow cord on his right shoulder and then to the yellow and blue badge on his shoulder. He was still considered a Major, therefore having only one star on the badge.

He thought back into the past, remembering the days when he could walk around in his normal clothes, being able to go to place to place. Now that he was older, he was an official dog of the military, ready to be tugged around, being told different orders. Alphonse seemed ready to join the Military, but Edward still didn't want him too become a dog of the Military.

Shaking his head to push back the memories, he looked back in the mirror and gazed at his reflection. He looked older now, too. His features were more prominent than they had been… He rubbed his cheeks, having already shaved. Edward reasoned that he was probably going to look like his father.

The door opened and he heard a small snicker. He sighed and turned around. "I look funny, don't I?"

Winry shook her head. "You look nice, now."

"What do you mean by now?" Edward teased back. He quickly got out of the jacket and thrust it down on his bed. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to it… its too scratchy." He went over to a drawer and opened it, pulling out a pair of pants. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get changed."

"Just a minute," Winry replied, walking over to the dresser. She picked up the silver object that had captured her attention. "You still have your state military watch!"

Edward nodded. "Of course… I still need it."

Winry set down slowly and turned around to face him. "You know… well, never mind. I'm going to go see Rose and Noa… they seem to be getting on well. You'd think they were sisters." She grinned and started to walk out, shutting the door quietly.

Edward stood up, a thought coming to him. He quickly walked over and opened the door and peeked his head out. "Winry! Wait a second, I want to ask you something."

"Sure, I'll wait," Winry said, standing a few feet from the door.

Edward walked back in and briskly took off his blue pants and switched them with some black pants. Taking a glimpse at his black turtle necked shirt, he decided to keep it on. It was chilly this morning…

The dance was only a few days away and he wanted to escort Winry… but he wasn't sure how to ask her. He put on a jacket and headed out the door, thinking up something quick. "Hey… want to go for a walk?"

"But we haven't eaten breakfast yet," Winry commented.

"We'll get something on the way," Edward said. "It's been awhile since I've eaten at a real restaurant…"

Winry nodded. "Alright then, I'll grab my jacket."

* * *

Alphonse crossed his arms, gazing up at the white Military building before him. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to join… if he did, his life would be on halt… relationship wise. Not that he had anyone, _yet_… Already he caught his brother looking at Winry now and then, seeing the unsaid love that was on his face. The party that was coming up would probably bring news of a new relationship…

Ever since Alphonse had arrived, he couldn't stop thinking of Rose. When he landed in Liore, stranded and sick on the streets, he had woken up to see the familiar brown eyes of Rose. What a beauty to wake up to… Alphonse's face reddened. Agh! He rubbed his head. He had a definite crush on Rose.

Something rubbed against his leg and he looked down to find a yellow kitten gazing up at him, with eyes that just begged him to pick him up. "Kittttty," Alphonse purred as he got down on his knees. It was so cute… He quickly picked up the kitten and started scratching it under its jaw, hearing the contented purr that was coming from the kitten.

He started to walk back to the dorms, knowing that he would probably not be able to keep the kitten… for now, it was fine.

"Alphonse!" he heard Noa call out. She and Hans were walking side by side, holding bags of books. He guessed that they checked out the closest bookstore… Hans always loved books.

"Hey," Alphonse said once they got closer.

"We've been checking out the bookstores around here," Noa said. "They're a lot more interesting than the ones at home."

Alphonse blinked. "Did you just say that in English?"

Noa flushed and nodded.

"You're getting very good… I guess mind reading can come in handy," Alphonse grinned. He turned to Hans and regarded him skeptically. Hans looked haggard and deep in thought… his black hair was all messy and unkempt, held back by a small pony tail. He had dark circles around his eyes and he was very pale… "Hans, are you feeling alright?"

Hans nodded slowly. "Just a lot on my mind."

"I understand," Alphonse said. "Are you missing home?"

Hans shrugged. "Not really. Nothing to miss. I'm headed back to the dorms," he sighed and walked away.

Noa and Alphonse watched him go, then Noa started following. "I'll see you later, Al," she quietly said.

Alphonse waved goodbye and scratched his head in thought. He didn't like Hans attitude. The look his in eyes were haunting… he knew Edward trusted him fully; he himself had never been too sure about Hans. Usually it was the other way around, with him trusting the person and Edward always having misgivings about it…

Something was wrong with Hans, Alphonse decided. Looking at Noa, he knew that she was probably going to go through a hard time. He knew that she had feelings for Edward; she'd them for a long time. Edward never fully caught on, and if he did, he pretended not to notice. Well, at least Alphonse thought that.

Alphonse decided to leave it at that, it not being his business at all…

* * *

Fact is, is that Edward _has_ had feelings for Noa. It was at least a year or two ago that Noa confessed to him, and he hadn't known what to think about it, least respond to it. And yet, when he also had some feelings for her, he said it couldn't work out. His mind was confused… after that it was the same again. They traveled together with Alphonse and everything was normal. There were a few incidents between them, but nothing major…

And here he was back with Winry, his old crush back with him, walking right beside him. It was funny how things worked out… and most of the times it was really annoying.

"What're you thinking about, Ed?" Winry asked, trying to break the silence that they were walking in.

"Nothing," Edward instantly replied.

"Ah," Winry sighed. "Well, where do you want to eat?"

"Here," Edward pointed across the street. "They have great breakfast there, and it's not too expensive."

An hour later, they had finished eating their soup and were looking out the window, admiring the weather.

"They're saying it could snow," Winry commented. "It's definitely getting cold enough… how is your automail holding up?"

Edward rubbed his shoulder now that he thought about it. "It aches a little. Definitely going to snow soon." He stopped rubbing and grabbed the last bit of bread on the table and buttered it up and gulfed it down in one bite. "So… what have you been doing with you life, now that you're on your own?" he asked.

"Oh… well, I still live with Granny on most occasions. But I've been visiting different places on new automail, and I've come up with some great designs. I'm planning on opening a shop one of these days, but I'm not too sure where to do it… Back in Risembool, probably," Winry grinned. "Someone has to take over the shop when Granny doesn't want it anymore."

Edward laughed. "That old hag giving up that shop? Never!"

"You should think about going to Risembool to visit her and everybody there," Winry said. "They miss you."

Edward kept silent. Winry sighed and looked out the window.

"I don't know…" Edward began quietly, "I really don't know what to do with my life."

"I wouldn't think of what to do now," Winry said. "I'd wait awhile… you just arrived a week ago. You can start fresh and…" she shrugged. "And do whatever."

"Yeah…" Edward smiled slightly and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. "There's nothing to worry about now. It feels weird. But to tell the truth… I'm happy to be back now."

Winry smiled. "I'm glad to hear that."

"Hey… want to go to the dance with me?" Edward asked, deciding to get it over with. For some reason he felt like a little kid…

Winry blinked, then tried to speak, "Um…."

"Don't tell me Hans already asked you," Edward joked. "He was always quick with wooing girls."

Winry laughed. "Well, he hasn't exactly caught my eye… I don't know though, he's a lot taller-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE CAN'T BE SEEN NEXT TO A GRAIN OF SALT!!"

"-but I'll go with you!" Winry said loudly after the rant from Edward.

Edward huffed, then realized that he had stood up and put a hand on the table, glaring evilly at her. He quickly sat back down, ignoring the stares that people around him were giving. "I haven't grown up at all," he muttered.

"It's just a normal reaction," Winry calmly said.

Edward flushed and looked down at his hands on his lap. "We'll be going now," he said and quickly put some money down on the table. He strode out of the restaurant, headed back to the dorms.

Winry ran up to keep up with him and reached out to grab his hand. "Thank you, Ed," she whispered.

He wasn't quite sure what he was being thanked for, but he slowed down and squeezed her hand in response. His face was flushed… he looked over to Winry, and to his relief saw her blushing, too. They strode hand in hand to the dorms.

A form standing next to a bookstore turned around, watching the pair walk away. She fiddled with her brown ponytail and sighed sadly. So… the two liked each other. She only didn't feel disappointed, she felt sad and alone.

"Hey Noa, ready to go?" Hans strode out of the store. "Sorry, I didn't realize I missed a book and dragged you back out here."

"It's alright," Noa commented softly and followed Hans back to the rooms.

**XxxxOuttakexxxX**

Something rubbed against his leg and he looked down to find a yellow kitten gazing up at him, with eyes that just begged him to pick him up. "Kittttty," Alphonse purred as he got down on his knees. It was so cute… He quickly picked up the kitten and started scratching it under its jaw, hearing the contented purr that was coming from the kitten.

Alphonse felt his knees wobble as he gazed into the kitten's eyes. He held a fist in the air and declared loudly, "Alright, I shall call you Squishy and you will be mine, and you shall be my Squishy!" Alphonse cuddled the kitten fondly and skipped to his room, very happy about his Squishy, the sun setting in the background, and waves brushing against the rocks that magically appeared in the middle of Central.

**XxxxEndOuttakexxxX**

_Somebody has watched too much Finding Nemo…_

**This chapter was mainly a relationship develop/filler. The good stuff is coming :D Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews! I'm really sorry it's late – I blame it on life. It's been crazy. And writers block. Eek. Oh, and Kingdom Hearts II. I love that game :'D **


	7. Deception

The dark circles around his eyes didn't suit him.

Hans stood in front of a mirror with neatly brushed hair and clad in a sleek black suit. He was constantly worrying about what and how he would get contacted. Tonight, at the dance, would be a perfect place. No doubt. He just wondered how he could act to betray Edward and Alphonse like that.

Not that he already had betrayed them, though. The three of them including Hans, were plagued by a sickness which was slowly growing. Hans had known that it would turn out like this; he just didn't think he would get this sick this fast. Obviously it was affecting him more of the others… he stared a long cut the gate had made on his arm. Not only had it not healed, it was getting larger.

He had made a deal with the gate – he said that they would give their blood in order to pass through. He thought it was a good trick, thinking that with the small amount of blood they give it would be enough and they would pass through without having any harm done to them, except for the cuts they received when the gate took their blood.

A sacrifice had to be made, Hans decided on. It was now affecting him, Noa, and Edward. The gate had taken Alphonse enough times that it wanted another sacrifice. It threw him away to a different location… This time, for the sacrifice… it chose three. They were the pawns of the game the gate was playing.

All Hans had to do is go through the gate before he was too sick. He had already started a racking cough and his wounds not healing constantly hurt him. But he wouldn't let the pain interfere with his work. He had a job to do, and he would do it no matter what. This world, this Amestris, had to go.

The door creaked open and Edward popped his head in. "Feeling any better?" He walked in, clad in his blue military suit and the scent of cologne filled the air.

"Trying to impress the ladies, Ed?" Hans asked, ignoring his first question.

Edward shook his head. "There's nobody to impress."

"Ah. I see. Is that what you call it?" Hans said, a small grin on his face. "As far as I know, you've got your hands full with the ladies out there."

"Pft. 'course not," Edward crossed his arms. "Hurry up or we'll leave without you. We're supposed to arrive a tad early."

"I'm going," muttered Hans, reaching for his jacket. He kept watching Edward as he left the room and Hans silently followed.

Deception.

Each step he took was deception, a lie. He was glad that it would end soon.

The date read December 10th.

He had twenty days left in this world.

He would make it.

* * *

"Here we are," Alphonse said. "Ready?" He asked them. He turned to look back at them and shivered a little inside. He doubted he would hardly be able to take off his eyes of Rose. She was beautiful tonight. Her pink hair was as it always was, then her brown hair she had curled and put it in a messy bun on the back. Her face held little makeup; Alphonse didn't care. He was taken away from her appearance. And the dress she wore wasn't all that revealing, but it hugged her figure, a tan dress that flowed down past her knees and short flowing sleeves that came right above her elbows. It contained no ruffles or embroidered pictures except a small beaded rose that was on the right corner of her sleeve. A rose for a Rose. Perfect.

He realized he was staring and quickly took his eyes off of her but walked up to her, offering his arm. He had asked her here, anyways. She smiled and took his arm, and they headed towards the door.

Hans and Noa followed after, arm in arm but their thoughts on different things. Noa couldn't help looking at Edward painfully; her heart hurt…

Edward offered his arm to Winry, realizing that he was red faced… his face was burning up. This wasn't what he did in life. He didn't walk into a place just to dance… where were the people he had to fight? Edward looked into Winry's eyes, instantly regretting what he thought. Staring into the milky blue eyes of hers... she was also clad in a light blue gown that flowed to the ground and a fake jewel glittered on the strap, with a V-lined neck that did nothing to conceal all of her figure. But that didn't matter; he was lost in her gaze. _Screw the bad guys. _They went into the building.

The lights were dimmed and Edward stopped in his tracks, squinting into the dark. "Why is it so dark?" he grumbled. "That damn Colonel…"

"Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist!" a voice called out. "Welcome back!" a whole chorus of people said. The lights went on and Edward's eyes went wide in disbelief. People that he had met along his journey were standing right in front of him – Paninya, Sig Curtis, Russel and Fletcher Tringum, Maria Ross… many people from different villages, all clad in their best and large grins on their faces.

Roy Mustang walked up to him, hair neatly brushed back. "Obviously, once word got out, Full Metal, people from all over wanted to come over and welcome you back. Everybody is here!" He looked back at the vast of people.

"Some people are missing," Edward murmured, looking sadly where Maes or Izumi Curtis would have greeted him… He looked painfully to the ground. Here, with almost everyone here, the lost people were sorely missed. It makes a person realize what they all went through to get there.

"Come on now, Ed. Don't be like that," Winry patted his arm. "Let's enjoy it."

"You have to have the first dance, Ed. Winry?" Roy asked, motioning Riza over to them.

"Don't worry," Winry said. She grabbed Edward's hand and walked down the stairs, going down to the middle of the room. Edward turned red as he stumbled along with her.

"Why do we have to dance first?" Edward mumbled to her once they stopped walking. Alphonse and Rose also followed them, as it was a welcoming for Alphonse too.

"Because you're the person that this party is being held for!" Winry grinned up at him. "Now, you know how to dance, right?"

"Of course," Edward sputtered. He looked over at the people surrounding him. Russel gave him a thumbs up and gave a woot as Edward placed his hand on Winry's back and held her hand, which almost caused Edward to let go and pulverize Russel right then and there… but he stayed.

Alphonse gazed down at the slightly older woman he held in his hands. She smiled back up at him as he stared at her; she was here. She was now. They were hand in hand and he was in love. He couldn't understand the love that came up for her… his heart felt calm with her and he knew that it might not work out… but he was content. He smiled down at her and whispered, "Ready?" and she nodded.

The music started and they danced their first dance. The two couples started out slow, stepping out left, right, and they matched their speed to the song. It wasn't too slow of a song and Edward had always enjoyed dancing when he was in Germany… he could thank Noa for teaching him. His fingers tingled as they rested on her back, but he paid no attention. He concentrated on stepping in the right direction and ignoring the stares that watched them.

Roy Mustang walked up to them, hand in hand with Riza, and they slowly started dancing, telling people that it was alright for the dance to officially start. Edward breathed a sign of relief as they all started dancing. He noticed Alphonse grinning as he danced and he was sure that something would come out of their relationship that night.

Hans was dancing with Noa, having also been taught by her. Noa knew her Roma dances quite well, but she also learned a fair amount of ballroom dancing. Back in Germany when they met up with some other Roma, she had gotten to dance along with Edward several times, moving in the style of the Roma. That had been a good life.

The dances went on for awhile, one song rising up and another song fading. Edward had been interrupted many times in the dance so they could dance with Winry, and he retreated to the back of the room, talking with anyone he saw free. Alex Louis Armstrong nearly strangled him to death as he talked with him, but Edward was grateful with the major that he was alright.

Russel danced with a pretty woman who Edward presumed to be his wife… the woman had a tummy, clearly pregnant.

Edward sat down, wondering where all the time went. It had been five years… so much changed. He never expected Russell to settle down, he never expected that Maria Ross would finally realize the love that Sergeant Brosh had for her and return that love. He never expected anything. He always thought it would be the same. And dammit, even the Colonel was getting married soon.

Edward sighed. He was now twenty three years old and he had figured out nothing to do with his life – in Germany he had decided to travel around and work in mechanics, but now back in Amestris, he really had nothing to progress in except the Military. Alphonse had already chosen a path in life, that's definite.

He continued to sit there, brooding.

Hans sat down a few seats away from him, rubbing his hands nervously, waiting for someone to talk to him. This was the perfect place to meet someone. If this man stayed loyal, that is. Something could have happened to him…

"Are you Hans?" a man asked as he sat down next to him. Speak of the devil… He clearly had a thick German accent.

Hans nodded once and the man chuckled.

"Finally," the man said. "Do you know the plan? By the way, I'm Karl Feder."

"I know nothing of how to destroy this place," Hans murmured. "I studied the content of the Uranium bomb, but I've no clue…"

"Speak no more," Karl said. "I know how to work this out. I'm just surprised that the gate didn't destroy you as you came over here. What sacrifice did you make?"

"Ourselves," Hans sighed. "I can probably last a few more weeks at least. But the gate is slowly destroying us – the small amount of blood we gave did nothing much more than keep us alive. Once I pass through the gate again, I'm sure it'll go away."

"We at least need a sacrifice," Karl nodded, bringing his voice down to a whisper. "No matter what. We can't afford to offer ourselves… do you have anyone in mind?"

Hans nodded his head in Edward's direction, who was currently sipping a drink and gazing at the people dancing.

"Him. I see…"

"He trusts me," Hans said. "And that'll be his downfall."

"Perfect," Karl said. "Meet me tomorrow at 1 o'clock in the afternoon at the train station. I'll show you how we're going to get rid of this damn corrupted place." He leaned back in his chair. "I've worked on this for five years of my life. There is no way that this plan can't work." He stood up, nodded his head, and left.

Hans sighed and finished the remaining contents of his drink.

* * *

Noa sat down next to Edward at the table and asked for a drink, wondering how to start a conversation. But he beat her to it as he turned to her with a sly look in his eyes. "_You should dance_," Edward said. "_Not these dances… but your Roma dances_."

"_I don't know if I should_," Noa shook her head. "It's your party."

"That doesn't matter," Edward shrugged. "I'll get Alphonse to take over that guitar over there… he learned how to play it some, didn't he? And Hans can play the drums… if it makes you feel better, I can dance with you too," Edward said. "I know it's hard for you to be away from Germany, and if you want to dance the way your people dance, you should do it."

"I don't know…"

"Come on!" Edward grinned. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to Alphonse, who agreed to get Hans and play an instrument while they danced. Edward headed toward the musicians and asked if they could do it and he cleared his throat when he tried to get everyone's attention.

"I want to thank you everyone for coming here," Edward started. "It's been amazing to see each and everyone of you… It's been five long years. Too many things have changed, but some things have stayed the same." He took a deep breath. Thanking them and standing in front of the audience? Since when did he do that? He was the Full Metal Alchemist, the brash boy that had a temper and no patience. This wasn't like him… so many things had changed… so why couldn't he? Being back in Amestris had been a nightmare for him at first; but he was back and that was that.

"Anyways," he continued on, "I've asked Noa to join me in a Roma dance, which I learned while I was away. There isn't much to it and it's much different from the dances over here…" he stepped down and held out his hand to Noa to bring her to the middle of the room.

They took a stance and waited for the guitar and drum to start going. Once it started, they moved their knees and arms, spinning around each other. Noa's face lit up in a smile, her mind back in her homeland, visualizing other Roma standing around her and also dancing, and the joy that she felt when she danced… Her dark brown hair whipped around her as she moved in a fluid motion. The dance was getting fast as Hans and Alphonse enjoyed picking up the pace with their instruments.

People started clapping along as they danced, though none dared to dance along with them. Edward danced around Noa and he felt a drop of sweat roll down his face, his golden hair flinging around as he spun. Noa had chosen a dress with mainly folds and ruffles that made it possible for her to grab onto it and dance around. It was a dance where no contact was made between the two until the end when the both grabbed hands and ended in a stance with Edward's arms wrapped around Noa's shoulders and hers holding his hands. The song faded out and a round of applause sounded throughout the crowd.

Edward let go and leaned down on his knees, breathing hard. "_That took a lot out of me_," he laughed. "_But it was fun_."

Noa nodded. "_I saw the Roma people again, they were clapping and dancing along with us…" _she sighed._ "Sometimes I'm beginning to miss the people I made friends with."_

"_I'm sorry_," Edward sighed.

"_It's not your fault_," Noa smiled at him, but it was small.

Alphonse walked away from the guitar and headed towards Winry, who stood there looking confused. He laughed quietly. "Didn't know Ed could dance like that, did you?"

She shook her head, solemn.

"Noa taught all of us… I'm sort of good at it, but I didn't really dance much. Neither did Hans. Edward seemed to like it though. It took his mind off things."

"I see," she murmured. She looked down to the ground, feeling sad, like she didn't belong there. Edward had such joy when he looked at Noa… was that love he had? Noa was a perfect match for him; all Winry was, is his childhood friend. Wasn't it them who always got left out of the picture?

"I'm not feeling too well," she said. "I'm going home."

Alphonse blinked. "Uh… but the dance is barely over yet."

"I'm leaving," she said firmly and walked away quietly, vanishing into the crowd.

"Hey!" Alphonse said and grumbled. Obviously she was jealous and she had thought she'd lost the game. _It wasn't a game_, Alphonse chided himself_. It was life_.

Edward looked around for Winry just in time to see her leave. He started off after, wondering where she was going. "Winry!" he called after her. She kept walking.

He ran outside to where she was walking across the gravel, heading back to the dorms. "Winry!"

She stopped and turned around, a slightly angry look on her face.

"Where are you going?" Edward asked once he walked up to her. "You're going to miss the end of the dance."

"I don't feel too well," she said and turned around to leave.

"Wait," Edward reached out and grabbed her hand. She shook him off and spun around to face him.

"Leave me alone," she whispered. "I'm sorry, just leave me alone."

"But I want you to stay!" Edward said, trying to gain confidence in himself to say the three words that were constantly in his mind when he was around her.

"Edward!" the voice of Roy called out. "Where are you?"

"Get back to your dance, Edward. Obviously they need you more than me," Winry said.

"I don't care," Edward said, but didn't run after her as she walked away. _What the crap was up with her? _He didn't know what to think.

"A little lesson," Roy said as he walked up to him. "Never, ever bother a girl when she's confused as she is. You'll only get her upset."

"What?" Edward asked, a tad confused.

"That dance you danced with Noa… she took it the wrong way, Ed," Roy said, patting him on the shoulder. "Give her time to think."

Edward stared at him, realization creeping up on him. "Oh."

"Come back to the dance and either tell them you're leaving or enjoy the rest of the dance," Roy said, "but leave the deal with Winry for tomorrow."

Edward nodded. "You know, you say some smart things every now and then."

"I always say smart things," Roy responded back. "Now get back there."

Edward did head back, but he didn't know what to think about Winry. He sighed and sat down at a table, his eyes on the people dancing and the people smiling and waving at him, but his mind was on three words that he would have to tell sooner or later to Winry; I love you. All this time of being with Winry, he had a crush on her, but he never stopped to appreciate her fully. He sighed and looked at Hans, who sat a chair away from him.

"You don't realize you have something before it's gone," Edward said. "That's what my life is made up with."

Hans took a sip, then asked, "Then why don't you do something about it?"

"Oh, I will," Edward replied, whispering. "I just don't know how."

**No… I'm pretty sure I'm not dead. I'm just slow :) **

**The story is slowly unraveling itself and I hope you continue reading… I really appreciate the reviews, they make me dance! **

**Note: I could find really nothing to help with the Roma dance and how it would start or end. I tried to keep it seem like the body motions in cue – the dances to rest heavily on twirls and spins and the fluid motion of the body. If anybody knows anything about Roma dances, I'd appreciate any help. **

**Please review! **


	8. Past

**XxxXxx means it's the start of a flashback, xxXxxX means it's the end of a flashback. **

Rain and hail pounded against the window in nonstop waves causing Edward to not be able to sleep. He could hear Hans and Alphonse breathing softly, already asleep. IT had been a day since the dance and he'd done nothing since then except stay in his room. His stomach rumbled from the lack of food. He groaned and turned on his stomach, thinking of the dance. He'd heard from Rose that Winry was packing up to go Rush Valley to get on with her life. He still couldn't exactly figure out what was going on in her mind, but he didn't want her to leave quite yet. He knew jealously was laying in the game, but he also knew that Winry was also tired of waiting for him.

He didn't blame her.

He knew she wouldn't wait for him any longer. It was time for him to be the one to go after her…

He sat up on the bed, thinking of what Noa would do if he were to pursue Winry. He knew exactly what her feelings were, and he knew that Noa was getting homesick. Sure, it was a land full of people who disliked her kind, but she had been accepted by the Roma. After the last time she'd been sold for her mind reading, she'd had a hard time trusting her own again. It had taken time, but she was accepted back to the Roma, and had friends there. She could go back if she had the chance. He would miss her, though it didn't look like she was going back at all. She was stuck here.

He thought back to the time he had felt, or thought he had felt, something toward Noa. Had it ever been love? He doubted it…

XxxXxx

_Germany, 1927_

Edward closed the book he was reading, disappointed that the novel had been a great adventure-turned-sappy-romance. Love wasn't like that. It didn't _just _happen in a second. With himself, he had tons of adventure, but that had never had a chance of romance seeping into that time. No girl to run into his arms when he defeated the evil bad guy… It had only been himself to celebrate, yet he had never felt good after defeating someone. It was never pretty.

He stood up and put his hands in his pockets, turning his eyes to the objects sitting on the desk. It was the Uranium bomb from his former home including a replica of the bomb that had been made. Thankfully, they had been able to stop the people from making anymore. Already too many people had died from the poisoning of the uranium bomb and they couldn't afford anymore people to be killed.

They had to take apart the bomb. With alchemy, it would have been easy, but here, it was difficult. Edward himself didn't think he could take it apart, so he had found a man named Hans who was going to be the one to take it apart. Alphonse was bringing Hans there now, but it would be a few hours yet.

Edward was waiting with Noa, who was currently sitting on the bed against the wall, hugging her legs to her chest, eyes closed. Edward leet his eyes trace the outline of her form, once again realizing the beauty that Noa was. He was tempted to sit by her and run a hand through her hair and around the curve of her jaw… he knew he felt something for her, but it didn't feel right. She wasn't right for him….

"You're staring," commented Noa softly. She opened her eyes and met eye contact with Edward, who quickly looked away.

"I was not," Edward replied. "Go back to sleep." He turned from her and looked out the window. "It's near dark and Alphonse should be here soon. Might as well sleep, right?"

Noa shook her head. "I'll be outside," she said and stood up. "I want to walk while I can still see my feet." She slipped into her sandals and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders.

"It's not safe…" Edward's words traveled off as Noa shut the door firmly behind her. He scratched his head and watched Noa from the window until she passed out of his sight. It really wasn't safe out there. They were in a quiet town, but it had its unsightly characters. He didn't want anything to happen to her, especially now since they had the bomb with them. It could bring troublesome matters.

He watched a group of men, clearly intoxicated, stagger along the dirty dirt road. One gave a whoot and pointed. Edward felt his heart drop as he watched the men all take off in a run where Noa had gone off to. He dashed out of the room, for once not caring if the door was locked.

Noa was in danger. He had to help her. He ran outside and blinked, his eyes adjusting to the oncoming dark. It was darker than he had realized. He ran towards the direction that the men had run; he could also hear them along with a scream that belonged to Noa, mixed in with the men's guffaws.

A fury burned in his chest about how low men could be. He turned the corner and saw the backs of the men crowded in the corner. He couldn't ever remember if he stopped in his tracks before chasing after the men. He didn't even think. Before he knew it his right fist was busted and bent upon hitting so many of them. He had grabbed Noa by the arm and picked her up and rushed back to the room, knowing that the men wouldn't have the guts to follow.

Placing Noa down on the bed, she scrambled out of his hold. She stared up at Edward with red eyes and a terrified gaze. She then looked at her hands as all the pasts' of the men passed through her mind, filled with their evil deeds and the faces of their victims.

Edward grabbed her hand and closed them, taking a deep breath. "Are you all right?" he asked, at which Noa nodded. "Dammit Noa, you can't go out of here. It's too dangerous! I should've stopped you. They would've suspected as to also why a Roma is walking around…"

Noa nodded, silently agreeing. She wrapped him in a hug, burying her face in his shoulder, letting her tears soak into his shirt. Edward tensed; this was unusual for her. This much contact with a person could be overwhelming for her, but he guessed she could control it… he blinked in surprise as he felt her lips against his. He closed his eyes and before he knew it he was kissing back as softly as he could, then he brought her closer and falling back against the bed, he started kissing her with a ferocity that he had never felt before. Slowly he let his lips travel down her neck, letting his hands move down lower than he ever dared, letting his fingers rest on the buttons. One came undone, then another, she wasn't stopping him…

He felt her shiver under him and she whispered his name; he stopped the kisses against her neck and tried to clear his head as he closed his eyes. What in the world was he doing? He was taking advantage of her… he had to stop. It was going too fast. This wasn't right; it didn't _feel_ right. Over the past few years he had developed feelings but it wasn't love that he was acting with; it was something he didn't want to admit to himself.

The feelings he had weren't unconditional love. It was just love for a friend. His heart ached and his head swam, knowing that he had to stop. Slowly he lifted himself from her, ignoring her look.

"This isn't right," he whispered.

Noa sat up, bringing her legs up and hugging them once again to her chest. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I thought… I just felt so grateful and I realized… I realized that you were there for me… and…"

"I shouldn't have started to do that right after that incident, Noa… I'm sorry," Edward shook his head and remembered the kiss they shared – he had felt nothing for it. He took a deep breath and stood up, walking to the other room. He had almost lost control and he need time alone just to think. He stopped when he felt Noa wrap her arms around him.

"I love you." she said. "From the very beginning. All this time," she ended in a whisper.

"I don't feel the same," Edward said briskly. "I'm sorry." He slipped out of her arms and headed for the room and shut the door firmly.

Alphonse arrived there an hour later, Hans with him. They found Noa curled up on her bed, eyes red. The only words she said was that she felt sick, and she had turned over and fallen asleep. Alphonse felt wary about talking to Edward. He guessed what had happened. Alphonse showed the bomb and its replica to Hans, who took it with much interest.

Without talk for the next week, Hans stayed there and rid of the bomb, having the elements destroyed. Edward didn't say much except the last day, when they were packing to go to London and waiting for their ship. They had all gotten out of the town safely and were currently sitting in the shade of a tree. Hans was staying with them until they reached Germany; even then he might continue with them.

"Bad news," Alphonse said, walking up to them. "We won't be able to get to Germany for a few days at least. We're stuck here for now."

"It's good weather so we can just camp outside," Edward shrugged. He turned to look at Noa who passed by him, gazing at something on the hill.

"Roma," she said. "They're here."

It was a few hours until they heard the occastional guitar and watched the dances. Noa gathered up will power and joined the Roma, taking part in the dance. She felt that this was what she needed to cool off and to just forget about everything except the dance.

"Why don't you get your friends to dance too?" One man suggested. "They're welcome to."

"I believe I will," Hans said, overhearing the comment. He slicked his black hair back and ran up to join the men. He lifted his arms and tried to follow the movement and he just laughed at when he messed up. "Say, Noa," he said as he moved closer to her. "What's up with you and Edward?"

"Nothing," Noa shrugged and twirled away from him. She still wasn't fond of Hans and she didn't really want anything to do with him right now.

Hans shrugged and wandered off to Edward, who was sitting in the grass, attempting to read another adventure novel. "Isn't she a jewel?" Hans said.

Edward nodded slightly, keeping his eyes on his novel.

"To gaze at her like this is just a prize in itself," Hans continued on. "To watch her fluid motion and her sincerity; she's a strong woman."

Once again Edward nodded, slightly ignoring him.

Hans sighed and stood up, grabbing Edward's arm in the process. He threw the book to the ground and pushed Edward toward the dance. "Learn it. Maybe you'll see what I mean one of these days."

"What?" Edward said, walking back towards him. "I already see what you mean. I know that Noa is a strong, sincere woman."

"Then why do you keep on ignoring her?"

Putting his hands in his pockets, Edward glared at him. "Something happened and I don't know how to react to it."

"I see," Hans murmured. "I understand what you're going through. But just look at the dance – to dance is just another way to escape. Not only is it an escape, it is also a journey. You never stop learning things and yet you can dance just to escape everything. That, my friend, is what Noa is doing right now. Be there for her, and she'll be there for you. Be a friend and make your feelings clear, even if they aren't what she wants. It'll make life around here a bit easier."

Edward shook his head. "I can't believe I'm taking advice from you and I've only known you for a week…"

Hans shook his head. "Dance."

And so Edward learned. It wasn't until he had finished dancing for that day that he finally felt refreshed and his mind clear that he could talk to Noa again. He wouldn't ignore her, but he wouldn't accept her feelings either. They remained friends. Hans joined their group, always filling their talks with what they were going to do with their lives now that the bomb was destroyed. There were talks of opening shops, traveling around some more, living a full life but the question had been where to live it at that time. Hans always brought new scientific things into their lives and Noa brought new dances, Alphonse brought kittens and Edward provided the money by taking on different jobs. It was a life that they accepted…

xxXxxX

Now Edward wondered if life would ever be the same again. He wasn't free to go anywhere and he was surrounded by adults. Why didn't he feel like one? He was young, yes, but there was a responsibility that he had to gain. He had to grow up and take charge of his life. Yes… Edward sprang up from his bed and slipped into some clothes. He would accept the Military job back again and he would go on with his life. Rubbing his face, he felt that the scratch across his eye was once again open and even larger than it had been. It stung as he cleaned it and put a light bandage before he headed out.

His head began to swim as he walked out the door and his stomach churned. Groaning, he leaned against the wall. Why was this happening now? He rubbed his face and gave another groan. The wounds on his arms weren't healing either – they were just getting bigger. He'd have to ask Hans what this was about as he might have a solitary guess. He got up off against the wall as the pain subsided. He headed out of the dorms and to the office of Roy Mustang saying he was ready to be accepted into the Military again. It was near six in the morning. Mustang would be surprised to see him.

This was the day that he would, once again, become an official dog of the Military.

**This chapter was to learn about the history of the past love life between Edward and Noa – it was pretty intense for a second or two. Then the author butted in and said "No, that can't happen yet!" Jeez. **

**This is a rated T story and I will keep it that way, in case anyone is wondering. (thumbs up)**

**Just got back from Sakura-con last night and didn't make it to any of the fanfiction things going on, sadly. But the rest of the con was fun!**

**Anyways, please review :) **


	9. Abduction

It was the start of a new day and it had surprising news. Roy Mustang had arrived at his office to find Edward waiting at the door, eyes fierce and determined. He said that he was going to become an official part of the military now and he would accept any assignments. Roy didn't really have anything for him right now, but he had given the task of watching for any new people from showing up… people from the other side of the gate. Edward accepted and went back to the dorms, leaving Roy to ponder on the future.

* * *

For the next week, Edward had really nothing to do. The assignment was small and Edward already knew that there wasn't anyone from the other side of the gate, that he was sure. Hans and Noa were the only people and the rest from five years ago had all been killed. In a few days he would go back to Roy and demand a new assignment and he would make sure he would get a new one.

Meanwhile, Edward had some problems and they weren't ones that he'd like. Besides, when are problems ever good? His problem was Winry. Quickly and quietly she had decided she was going back to Risembool, leaving him in the dust with no way to apologize. From Rose he had learned that Winry had said she was not going to wait anymore and it would be Edward's turn to run after her. Edward had grinned nervously when he heard that when Winry had returned to the dorms that night that she was angry and was in fact yelling those very words.

He would run after Winry no matter what – he just had to get a new assignment first. Edward admitted to himself that he had feelings for her and they were not going to let him just sit around. Nor Noa, as she kept pressing him to run after Winry. Edward was surprised that Noa would suggest that, but he accepted that she no longer possessed any feelings for him, or that she never cared to show it anymore. Besides, Edward saw her spending more and more time with Hans… that relationship could work, right?

Edward stopped in mid-walk, mentally slapping himself. He never realized how much he cared for _relationships_ or things like that. They never interested him. He went on walking and tried to focus on his mission – Roy was at the military library right now and he would get his new assignment.

As he entered the library and passed a few bookshelves, he found Roy seated at a table, furiously scribbling on a piece of notebook paper.

"Good, you're here," Roy nodded at him. "Sit. You wanted a new assignment right?"

"Yes," Edward said. "I highly doubt that there is anyone other than Hans or Noa from the other side of the gate. There isn't any reason to be searching."

"Let me be blunt, Ed…" Roy shook his head and looked straight at him. "I do not trust this Hans."

Edward crossed his arms. "He's a good friend that I've known for about a year now. I trust him. He's never shown any interest in this world except the novels of Alchemy that he found back over in Germany."

"But he was the one who brought you over here," Roy said. Edward didn't say anything, and Roy continued on. "I've noticed the wounds that you, Noa and Hans possess. They aren't healing. That scrape across your right eye has gotten larger, hasn't it?"

"Why should that matter?" Edward asked. He felt the scrape and the bandage that was on either side of his eye. The scrape had reached half across his forehead and down his cheek, when at first it had been really small. The other wounds on his arms and legs weren't disappearing either.

"That long scrape along Noa's arm is also getting larger. I passed her on the street once from the bookstore and she was holding her arm, which clearly had blood soaking through her sleeve. She hasn't said anything, has she?"

Edward shook his head. "You're being very observant."

"I have to be when you can't see your own answer to you mission. I think you should have Hans brought in and questioned," Roy said, shuffling his papers together.

"Which I will not do," Edward growled. "And I can't explain how he brought us over here, either."

"Do you remember nothing as you passed through the gate?" Roy prodded. "Or before?"

Edward closed his eyes and thought back. "We were talking to Hans as he was really excited to show his Alchemy books. Of course I showed an interest too as to not let him suspect that I already knew about it. There were chalk markings on the ground as he had tried to draw his own circle… There was a bright light and then I woke up at Riza's house. I don't even remember the gate."

"That doesn't seem like it could be accidental, Edward. As we know, you need a sacrifice to call the gate. But anyways… does Alphonse remember?"

"He does," Edward shrugged. "He just hasn't said much about it."

"We'll get a full answer now," Roy said, motioning to Alphonse as he appeared around the corner.

"You wanted to see me, Colonel?" Alphonse said as he sat down next to Edward.

"I did," Roy sighed. "It's with the matter of the gate. For some reason this person Hans is not a person I can trust and I need to know what exactly happened when you passed through the gate."

Alphonse scratched his head and looked slowly at Edward. "I admit I've never fully trusted Hans," Edward looked at him, a surprised look on his face, but Alphonse continued on, "but I did enough to be friends with him. But ever since the gate incident – I don't know if I can ever truly trust him. What I saw in the gate is an experience that I don't want to go through again."

"And what did you see?" Roy said.

"I was awake most of the time I passed through the gate. The long arms of the gate were pulling me through, my limbs feeling like they were being ripped apart. The dark covered me and I could not see a thing. But slowly the dark turned into the yellow abyss, and I saw a light and I reached for it, and as I did I fell out into Liore. I think I may have escaped the gate as I lost nothing. What was the sacrifice? Did I have none?" Alphonse ended in a whisper, the fear dawning on his face.

Edward clenched his arm. "Blood," he said. "But that doesn't make Hans the guilty one here. He too has wounds from the gate."

"So the gate required a sacrifice from each of you, except Alphonse. Do you have any idea why?" Roy asked.

"Easy," Alphonse said lightly, the answer appearing in his mind, "When I revived Edward seven years ago, I was sent _in_ the gate. For that small amount of time I lived in the gate until I was pulled out and Edward sent through. The gate recognized me as trying to fool the gate again. It didn't require a sacrifice. It just wanted me back. But I was determined to get through, and I ended up in Liore and saw Rose when I first woke up," Alphonse concluded, his cheeks reddening a bit when he thought of Rose.

"But," he continued on, "I can't go through the gate again, or I might die... The gate told me that when I passed through."

"It must have also recognized me, but I have never stayed in the gate, I've only passed through it," Edward shrugged. "Our sacrifice was our blood, and we're slowly decaying, aren't we?" His voice got quieter.

Roy leaned back in his chair, deep in thought, but he slowly nodded. Finally he stood up and shook his head. "We must think on this further, but for now I must go. Edward, if you will not question Hans, then I will leave it alone until you decide to do that."

"I will not likely question him at all," Edward said, his voice hard.

"But I will not take you of your assignment, Edward. I'm afraid that we'll be seeing the gate all too soon. The gate wasn't destroyed over there, was it?"

"We tried to, but obviously it failed," Edward said, looking over at Alphonse. "We shot at it with guns, bombs, you name it. What we saw was it being blown up, the gate slowly fading away."

Roy gathered up his papers and stuffed them in a bag. "The gate faded too as I tried to destroy it with my fire. The gate never dies," he ended in a murmur. He looked back at Edward. "Keep a close watch on Hans and I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to head to Risembool right now unless-."

"But I need to go," Edward cut in.

"-you bring Hans along. Figure something out, Fullmetal." Roy sauntered away.

Alphonse stood up and shook his head. "Ed, you need to question Hans."

"Why don't you?" Edward quipped back.

"I think I just might," Alphonse glared at him and walked away.

* * *

Alphonse stepped out into the alley, wrapping his coat around himself. It was around evening and it was getting colder and colder which he didn't like, except for when it snowed which might be any time soon. He wandered out of the ally and back onto the street, taking an unsafe but quick shortcut. He felt queasy about talking to Hans and wasn't too sure what to expect.

He was also planning on talking to Rose about this as she always had good opinions. Plus he wanted to see little Kain again. He admitted to himself that if he ever got into a relationship with Rose that he would have the responsibility of a father to Kain and he wouldn't know how to act. Besides, it was all too early to be thinking of that.

"What are you dreaming about?" the voice of Noa made him drift out of his thoughts.

"Different things," Alphonse shrugged. "Just life, I guess."

Noa held tight to the bag in her hands and walked ahead of him. "I suppose Edward is headed to Risembool right now, right?"

"Only if Hans goes," Alphonse sighed. "Things are going wrong."

"I noticed that all your cuts healed," Noa said quietly. "Why is that?"

Alphonse took a long look at her arm which she was hiding and shook his head. "I don't think I should say quite yet because I don't fully know how to explain it."

"It's beginning to hurt," Noa whispered. "Sometimes it pains me greatly so I cannot move my arm. I'm starting to feel sicker by the day."

"Don't worry, Noa. We'll get this fixed," Alphonse said. "I just need to question Hans."

"About Hans," Noa said, a bit of worry in her voice, "he hasn't returned today. He went out for a quick walk, but he's not back yet. And it's been several hours."

Alphonse felt his heart sink. "Well, he should come back. If he won't we'll search for him." He felt queasy. Hans disappearing wasn't a good sign. Alphonse hoped that he wouldn't turn on them in any way.

* * *

Hans glared at the people boarding the train. Why were they so happy? Why do they have the right to be happy? This was a world that was not his own… this wasn't right. Only too often did he think of his own world and the power of that compared to Amestris. Amestris has much power, but that was all in Alchemy that was not possible in his world… so what use was this world? Eckhart was right. This world had to be destroyed, Edward included.

Hans gazed at the long cut on his arm. He had thought he had trickd the gate, but… he hadn't tricked the gate successfully. The deal he had made with the gate to give small amounts of blood from each person had its drawbacks. Now he was constantly losing blood, feeling weak and possibly decaying, too. He would slowly die so he _had_ to get out of here.

And he had a plan to make that happen. He watched the blond young woman climb aboard the train and he shuffled on after her. Kidnappping Ms. Rockbell was the only way that he was going to get Edward to follow him. He had only a little bit of time for the plan to work, and he was going to make it happen. He would kidnap Winry and hide her in a place that Karl Feder showed him, and he would threaten Edward with her.

This plan would work, and Noa would follow Edward. Hans planned to bring Noa back to Germany with him in order for her life to be spared. Her life was getting affected maybe even more than his, and the only ay for her to be saved was by going through the gate, back to his world. He just wouldn't tell her that he would kill the Elrics in the process.

The plan was perfect and nobody could stop him. He sat down far away enough so Winry wouldn't spot him. The train started and they were on their way to Resembool.

* * *

Winry gazed at the lush grass appearing into view. Even in the winter night the grass was beautiful. Even more beautiful would the grass be covered with snow, which was late this season. But it was going to be beautiful, that she was sure. The train neared to a stop and she stretched, yawned, and walked off the train.

This was the only place she could escape from Edward. She was estastic that he might come for her; she hadn't thought that she cared about him so much, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. Shaking her head, she drifted her thoughts to getting home, smelling the fresh clean air along the way.

The train started again behind her as she started walking on the dark trail. The air was chilly and she wished she hadn't packed her scarf so deep down in her luggage. The only sound around her was the sound of the crunching rocks beneath her feet, but she couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was following her. Stopping and turning around, she saw no one. Fear crept into her limbs and she was ready to break out into a sprint.

"Hello, Winry," came a voice behind her. She swept around and was staring into the face of Hans.

"Hans!" She cried, breathing a sigh of relief. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to collect the bait," he said, his voice quiet.

"Bait?" she whispered. She didn't like this. "I'm sorry, but I'm going home now."

Hans wrist shot out and grabbed her own wrist, wrenching it around her back, which caused her to let go of her bag in pain. She gave a shout and tried to get her hand away. Her eyes caught the sight of his hand come up in an arc and out of view. A quick pain came to the back of her neck and she saw no more.

Hans caught her slim form in his arms and he carried her to the car that was waiting. He went back and picked up her bag, wanting to show no evidence of this incident. Getting into the passenger seat, he motioned for Karl to start driving. He turned around and gazed at Winry's face and he ran a hand across her cheek. "Don't worry, dear. Nothing will happen to you unless Edward obeys." He turned again to the front and crossed his arms.

_13 more days until he would be back in his world._

**Xxx**

**O.o;; this story is becoming longer and longer, when at first all I wanted was a maybe 1 or two chapters. But obviously that didn't turn out!**

**If there are any mistakes, I'm sorry I didn't spot them, the spell checker doesn't work and I can't trust myself to catch all of them. **

**Please leave your reviews :) And thank you everyone for reviewing, too!**


	10. Escape

"Hans isn't back yet, brother," Alphonse said walking beside Edward, who was flipping through pages

"Hans isn't back yet, brother," Alphonse said walking beside Edward, who was flipping through pages. "He hasn't returned since yesterday." Edward continued to ignore him as he walked on. Alphonse sighed and stopped in mid-step, deciding that he wasn't going to get through to Edward.

"Hans is probably exploring Central right now," Edward said after awhile, then he stopped and stared at Alphonse. "He can take care of himself for now…I'll tell you what," Edward said and shuffled the papers together, "If Hans doesn't return by tonight, we'll search for him."

"I think you've trusted him a bit too much," Alphonse said, shaking his head.

Edward clenched the papers and glared at Alphonse, a bit angry. "In the past I could almost never trust anyone. Why is it so bad that I put my trust in him?"

"It doesn't matter how many people you can trust," Alphonse said slowly, "but the right people to trust." Alphonse turned on his heel and headed back for the dorms where he could talk to Noa who at least thought through things unlike his brother.

Edward watched him leave and looked back at the wrinkled papers which he found in some Alchemy books earlier that day. It wasn't really new information, just a broader insight. It would keep him interested for now and get his thoughts of things.

It was until a few hours later that Hans had still not reported in and Alphonse had come to report it, which made Edward really think about where Hans could've gone. Edward followed after Alphonse to the dorms, realizing that it was later than he had thought as it was pitch dark outside.

"Rose and Kain already left for Resembool," Alphonse said as he opened the door to their room. "They wanted to spend a few days out there before they headed to Liore again."

"Oh?" Edward mused. "I didn't even know she was leaving."

"It was a sudden change in plans," Alphonse shrugged. "We'll see her when we go to Resembool."

"When are we going?"

Alphonse waved three tickets at him. "Now. We're taking the late train. Hans has been gone far too long. So pack your things."

"But…"

"Just listen to me, brother," Alphonse said and pocketed the tickets. "Be ready in half an hour."

Edward sighed and walked over to his bag and started putting away his clothes. "Was Winry going to call when she arrived there?"

"I would think so," Alphonse said. "Even though she's angry, I think she would at least call."

Edward felt a cold sensation wash over him and he stood up. "She wouldn't be that angry…"

"Do not misjudge a woman's wrath," Alphonse muttered, remembering an incident in the past. He kept himself busy by shuffling through his clothes.

"That's right… I'm not the only one to make a woman angry," Edward smiled. "Good thing she broke off with you… what was it, three years ago?"

"I didn't have the strongest German nor did anything ever work out with her," Alphonse sighed and held his shirt up to gaze at it. "She didn't believe that the car broke down. I had a black eye for a week. I never thought that I would be the first one to make a woman that angry."

Edward laughed nervously. "Winry's wrench was a hundred times worse than that."

"You never got bruises."

"She hit my head so of course my bruises couldn't be seen," Edward shot back at him. "My head ached all the time around her."

Alphonse stood up, his suitcase packed. "We need to hurry up," he said, bringing the conversation back to the present. He walked out of the room and headed for the front desk to say that their rooms would be free. Edward shortly followed after and was waiting by the desk while Alphonse did the talking.

"Telephone for you, Mr. Elric," one of the men said behind the desk. "It's a call from Resembool."

Edward slowly walked over. "Great," he muttered, fearing that it would be Winry. "Hello?"

"Ed?" the voice of Rose came over the phone, "Is Winry there?"

"No… she left the day before you, remember?" Edward said, noting the worry in Rose's voice.

"That's what I thought, but she isn't here. Her Granny said that she didn't arrive by the train schedule, so she just figured that she had stayed behind and had cooled off."

Edward closed his eyes and rubbed them with his hand, groaning. "We're coming. Where do you think she is?"

"I don't know," Rose said. "Come here quick, Edward."

"I will," Edward said and hung up the receiver. He turned and found Alphonse staring intently on him, his eyes hard.

"I knew it," Alphonse whispered. "Hans disappeared around the same time as Winry."

"Don't say anything more," Edward warned and took off to a sprint to the station. _Dammit_… _dammit_… He didn't know if Hans disappearance was related to Winry's, but he had a dark feeling that it was… he just hoped it wasn't.

* * *

Winry opened her eyes, painful as it was, and waited until the adjusted to the dark room that she was in. Sitting up, she took in her surroundings, finding that she was right- it was a room that contained a bed, a window, and a door. Her things were missing, also. Ignoring the headache that she felt, she stepped over to the door and tried the handle, already knowing it was going to be locked and it was. She turned to the hinges on the door, knowing that she could easily pop them up and get out.

But she needed the perfect time. She didn't know where she was or why… _that's right_. Hans had captured her. Winry shuddered when she remembered the glaring look that he had given her and his smirk to go with them. She hadn't known he would do this at all, or at least suspected it. Hans was Edward's good friend… wasn't he?

Obviously some explanation would be needed.

Rain pounded against the window and she headed over, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get out unless she had a lot of strength she's hidden over the years. The boards that ran across the outside of the window didn't help, either. They covered at least half the window so she could only see a little out of it…

She knew where she was. This was an old cottage way on the outskirts of Risembool that had been abandond for a long time, ever since she was a kid. This had been the finding of her, Edward's and Alphonse's camping trip that they decided to do. Winry smiled. Edward could easily find this place and rescue…

She stopped herself. _No way_, Winry thought, _am I going to be damsel in distress_. She headed over to the window and peered outside, wondering if Hans would be out there. Nobody was, but she decided to wait there. _Come to think of it… weren't Rose and Kain coming right after me the day after?_ _They would've arrived late._ Winry gritted her teeth. She wasn't sure what plan that Hans had, but he needed to be stopped, and she couldn't do it by herself. _Edward or Alphonse better be over here, quick. _

The door sounded like it was being unlocked and Winry rushed over to the bed and stood next to it, ready to speak against Hans, who walked in with a grim look on his face.

"You're looking well," he said and stopped in front of the door. "I'm sorry for the harsh way of bringing you here."

"No hard feelings," Winry said, angry. "I don't mind getting hit unconscious now and then. Why'd you do it?"

"No reason to tell you, yet," Hans shrugged. "I've come to bring you food." He handed over a plate that she hadn't noticed.

She reached over and took it, knowing that she would have to keep up her strength. "I hope you know that you're going to disappoint Edward," she said slowly. "He doesn't take well to being betrayed."

"The boy needs to learn," Hans countered. "Life isn't filled with flowers."

"I think Edward knows that better than any of us," Winry said. "I don't think that you realize that."

"I've heard little of his adventures, true," Hans said. He sighed and brushed a long strand of hair behind his ear and he once again turned a glare on Winry. "No matter what he's been through, he will always be a pawn. Someone of his nature is always going to be like that."

"Why?" Winry asked, her voice strained. "Just because..?"

"Just because he was born here and of what he has to offer," Hans said, a smirk appearing on his face. "He has always been one of the pawns to open the gate."

"I don't think you have the right to decide that," Winry replied, setting the food down on the bed. "Edward will do anything to keep you from winning."

"Even leaving you behind again?" Hans said quickly, smirking even wider when Winry flinched. "I see. That means he won't go down without a fight, which I already knew."

"Hans…" a new voice said behind him. A middle aged man walked through the door, a graying blonde beard and hair covering his face. He was dressed in a suit and he was wearing glasses that made him seem like a high class gentleman. "Grüß Gott, Ms. Rockbell. I am Karl Feder," he said and stared at Winry with black eyes.

Winry blinked in astonishment. "You're…"

"I'm also from Germany, yes," Karl said and turned to look at Hans. "I think you've had enough chatting with Ms. Rockbell. Plans are needed to be set still." He turned and walked out, and Hans followed without a word, closing the door and locking it on the other side.

Winry sat down on the bed and sighed, not knowing where the other man had come from… this was going to be difficult, she was sure. Eating the bread and crackers that she had been given, she stood in front of the door gazing at the hinges. Bending down and reaching the inside of her book, she grabbed her small screwdriver that she kept in case of emergencies. It was a screwdriver…it wasn't until long that she used the screwdriver to unwind the nail in the hinge and quickly finished the others. She put her screwdriver in her pocket just in case she needed to defend herself… and waited a minute, took a deep breath, and pulled the door to the right, holding it up to not make any noise.

She tip-toed out, straining her ears for any sounds. Neither hearing nor seeing nothing unusual, she wandered out of the room and headed for the back door. It wasn't that big of a cottage and she betted that Hans and this Karl guy was in the small kitchen… she reached the back door and slowly walked through the door, trying to be as quiet as she could. She turned around and took another deep breath; she was past one of the hardest parts.

Ducking down, she ran to several bushes to keep out of sight even though it was dark. But she had to get back and soon daylight would come and she would be easily spotted; the cottage was surrounded by trees but the trees only lasted about half a mile until it met nothing but endless miles of grassy plains. How Edward, Alphonse, and herself had ever reached the cottage before now was a mystery to her. _Her parents had been there to guide them…_ That was one of the last times she spent with her parents.

_Come to think of it_, she sighed, _that was one of the last times of ever having a joyful childhood with Ed and Al._

The cottage was soon out of sight and she was reaching the end of the trees. She quickened her pace and broke out into a run once she reached the grass. She was in enough shape to run some distance and get far enough away. Even her already pounding head wouldn't stop her. Nothing would.

* * *

"It seems your bait has run away," Karl said as he heard the back door being open, as quiet as it was.

"I'm trusting your so called machinery will keep her here," Hans said. They were sitting in the kitchen, drinking some old coffee. "You said you had watchmen out there?"

"During my five years here I didn't just keep to myself," Karl said. "I gathered followers from many different places, but most of them are just outcasts with nowhere to go."

Hans kept silent.

"She would've been proud of you," Karl said, sitting down next to Hans. He leaned back and rubbed his beard in thought. "This is exactly what Eckhart would've wanted and we can't let it fail again. Edward Elric is the first Alchemist that needs to go to show that Alchemists are not all powerful... he defeated Eckhart," Karl ended in a murmur. "He deserves what is coming to him, including his brother."

Hans slightly nodded, still keeping silent. "Excuse me," he said and stood up, pushing the chair back with a loud creek. He headed out the back and stood outside, scrunching his eyes against the dark. Winry wasn't in sight anymore and it wouldn't be long until he would be seeing her again. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh air. _12 more days._

* * *

Winry sagged down to her knees, exhausted. She had been running for a long time it seemed and already the sun had started to rise. She flopped down onto her back and tried to breathe properly again. She was getting nearer to her town, that she was sure even though there were still endless grassy hills around her.

After five minutes of resting, she sat up and stood up again, starting off in a walk. She wasn't sure if she had been gone for a day or half a day; she would figure that out when she reached home.

A bursting strike of pain shot up her leg and she collapsed to the ground, biting back a yell. She glanced down at her leg and saw that it was caught in a simple hunting trap and cursed. What was this doing out in the middle of nowhere? Ignoring the pain shooting up her leg she sat up and tried to move the trap off, but it caused even more pain to shoot up her leg, causing her to yell. She let go of the trap and placed her hand on the ground, feeling light headed. "I have to reach home… and warn them…" she whispered. "I can't give up here…"

A rumbling came behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to see a car driving up. A car door opened and she heard several people step out.

"Oh? She escaped?" a voice came behind her.

"She was caught even before we caught her," another laughed. "By a simple trap."

A rough hand grabbed her arm and the other quickly undid the trap, causing Winry even more pain. They pulled her up and let her walk back to the car not offering to help her. Winry wiped tears of frustration away from her eyes; they wouldn't help her now. She looked at the car and almost let her mouth gape in amazement; the car had a gun of some design sitting on the front. It was crudely made, but it was clearly dangerous. The man behind her pushed her to go into the car and she sat down painfully, reaching down to her foot which was seeping blood and struggled to get off her boot.

Twenty minutes later she was sitting back on the bed she had woke up, her boot off and covered in her own bandages from her clothes. She had glared at Hans on the way in, but he had ignored her look.

_I didn't get very far with this, Winry_ thought to herself. _I just wanted to help. I thought I could do it. _

_But I won't give up._

* * *

Edward sat on the bench impatiently, watching the trees pass him by. It was near morning and he was almost in Resembool… he was almost there. He glanced over at Noa and Alphonse, who had both fallen asleep in their chairs. Once he reached Resembool, he need to contact the Military. He had left without telling that Hans had gone and Winry was missing, which should have been the first things he did. He cursed; he wasn't thinking straight.

"Brother, you alright?" Alphonse asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

Edward realized he was rubbing his forehead during his process of thinking and he nodded, putting his hand down. "I'm just thinking."

"Want to talk?"

Edward shook his head. "Nothing to say what you already know. I think…" Edward turned his head to stare at the familiar station coming up, "I think I'm just angry at myself for not stopping her," he mumbled. The train stopped with a loud noise and he sprang up, walking over to No and putting a hand on her shoulder, waking her up. "Time to go. We're here."

_We're coming. _

**Sorry for the long update. I've been writing a lot of my own stories and poems in my free time and have been struggling at starting this one. School is almost out for me (two weeks!), so I might get more free time, depending on whether I get the job I applied for. **

**For people who hate damsels in distress… Don't worry a bit :) **

**Colonel Bastard: It might seem like he's narrating the story, doesn't it? I sort of wanted him to 'reflect' on what happened, so I'm ok with the first paragraph, but I will change the last sentence on your suggestion, because it does sound way better XD **

**Thanks for reviews! **


	11. Capture

**Sorry for the late update. I had time a lot earlier to write it, but I didn't, so now I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner. **

Edward tried not to cringe at the sound of the Colonel's voice on the phone. He was speaking with language he didn't normally use and in a brisk and harsh voice as if he was talking to a child. Edward had heard all of this before from him and he didn't want to be reminded of it. His attention was caught when the Colonel started giving orders.

"I'll send troops out and they should be there within the next day or so, but I will not send out more troops until you have official word that something is going on. I've heard of some reports that people have given about seeing machinery out there, but when I had it checked out our men have never found anything," Roy said, his voice turning less harsh. "I'm going to warn you to be careful when you go searching, Full Metal. I hope the five years in Germany didn't get you out of shape."

"No worries," Edward said. He scratched his head, not quite knowing where to start once he got off the phone.

"Good luck in finding Miss Rockbell. Report anything you find to me immediately."

"Got it." He hung up the phone and ran up to Alphonse and Noa who were waiting by the door of the station and quickly told them of the situation and they headed off to the Rockbell house. They had the whole day to search Resembool for any information that they could find and Edward would make sure that he spent the entire day searching.

Rose met them at the door, a worried expression on her face. A tired Kain walked after her wiping his eyes and then grinning at the sight of them walking through the door.

"Winry still isn't here," Rose said, motioning them in. "I've talked to the neighbors around here and no one saw her come home."

"That isn't good," Alphonse shook his head. "What about Hans?" He waved silently to Kain and smiled at him, then looked back at Rose, his expression now mirroring hers.

"Nothing."

"I have a feeling something bad is about to happen," Edward growled. "And there are people being put at risk. What was Hans story from the start?" He turned to look at Noa. "You can mind read. Throughout this whole time we've known him, did you see anything?"

"Hans always had a quiet mind," Noa murmured. "I've never tried to read his mind on purpose and I've never seen anything." She shook her head. "I never felt like I had any reason to think ill of Hans."

"When we see him we'll know," Alphonse said, his voice light. "I suggest that we eat something, then head off to search."

Edward silently nodded and followed them into the kitchen.

Xxx

Hans walked into the cottage, making sure that Winry's door was locked then headed into the other small room where Karl was writing in a book. He sat down across from him.

"I hear that Edward has reached Resembool," he said.

"He'll find this place in a matter of days," Karl said, flipping to another page and dotting down some words, then glanced up at Hans. "We must move. The men have already moved the machines back to a safer location which will make it harder for Edward's brother to find."

"How will he know where to find us?" Hans asked.

"The place that I chose for the gate to be opened is an old Military location in the outskirts of Resembool. It had been used as a refuge place for the Ishbalian war. There are small bases at each corner of the land… Miss Rockbell will be placed in one of the bases. She's our extra blood for opening the gate. As for them finding the place… I have contacts within the Military that will alert of where it is – the Military will sent out the troops. My men are Alchemists and are strong, and we have the machinery built that is the same in Germany. I have been here for five years," his voice turned grave, "my plan will not fail."

Hans began to speak, but he started coughing and he tried to control it. Once his coughing fit passed, his stomach jerked and he resisted the urge to vomit. "This body of mine is slowly decaying," he huffed out. "The gate is requiring the blood I have cheated it of."

"All the more reason to open the gate. Once we pass through, we will be free. The Military will be destroyed, the leaders murdered, the civilians dead by the thousands," Karl leaned back in his chair. "We will be unstoppable."

Hans nodded and stood up, clenching his chest, trying to ignore the pain.

"I trust that you will bring Mr. Elric to me as soon as possible," Karl murmured. "He is in pain, the same as you."

"Is it a good idea to capture Edward so soon? We still have eleven days until the gate…"

"However long it takes Edward to reach this cottage is good enough. You will stay here with some of the men here and wait for him."

Hans nodded and walked out of the room. The plan was getting more and more complicated, but at least he could even things out with Edward again. Too bad their friendship hadn't lasted longer…

In the next room where Winry was, she was leaning as close as she could against the wall to hear their conversation. She could hear it quite well, so obviously they were not afraid to hide their plain. She lay down on the bed when she didn't hear anymore and closed her eyes. There was no way she could escape now…her foot was in pain and she could barely move from one place to the next without her eyesight getting blurry. She was sure that the hunting trap had snapped her bone.

But back to Edward… how in the world would they capture him? He was as strong as they came… but Winry knew that even he could be defeated as there had been times in the past, but he had always been saved one way or the other. She had to trust in the future that all would go well… She remembered the day that she saw Edward return five years ago right before he left again and the machine he had been in. It was an airplane, from what he had said, and there were ones that were pretty dangerous. Even Alchemy would have trouble destroying an airplane in the sky…

The door clicked and opened, and Winry turned to see Karl walking into the room. "I am here to escort you out."

Winry slowly sat up, not setting her hurt foot on the floor. Two men walked in behind Karl and grabbed Winry's arm and yanked her up, ignoring her yelp of pain.

"Don't worry. You'll be seeing Edward shortly," Karl said.

"Of course I will. I'll meet him when you're behind bars," Winry said angrily. "Don't think that your plan is going to work."

"Do not make us use chloroform again," Karl warned. "Escort her out."

Winry held her tongue and hobbled with the men who pulled her along.

_I'll be seeing you soon, Edward, whether we're captured or not…_

Xxx

It took three days until Edward even discovered a trace of Winry. He had followed stray tire marks into the forest and had kept on them for awhile. He realized where they were headed and criticized himself for not thinking of the old cottage earlier. It would be a good place to hide, if they planned on staying close. He turned and headed back to Resembool to tell Alphonse that he got a lead and tell him where he was going. Alphonse had searched the south side of Resembool along with Noa. Rose stayed with Kain and Granny Rockbell at the house, directing the men to different places in Resembool.

Edward walked into the Rockbell's house and walked to the window, looking at the men stationed in front of their house. It was a small fleet of men, and they had already helped by searching the west and east side of Resembool for anything peculiar. Edward noticed Alphonse out there talking to some of the men, then walked inside with a disappointed look on his face.

"Find anything?" Alphonse asked as he sat down at the table.

"Yes," Edward nodded. "Remember the old cottage? I found some stray tire tracks that lead up to it. It's not definite, but it's possible. I wanted to tell you where I was going just in case."

"Thinking ahead has never been one of your strong points," Granny Rockbell said, walking in and was staring at Edward. "I trust that you will be careful."

Edward headed for the door, ignoring the remark and the weariness of Granny's eyes. She was missing Winry and was very worried about her, which caused her to look older than she really was. "I will. Alphonse? Will you come?"

"Of course," Alphonse said and headed after him, grabbing a piece of bread and then remembered something. "Noa isn't feeling well. She collapsed while heading back here."

Edward stopped and looked at Alphonse. "She collapsed?" He turned his direction and headed to the room that Noa was staying in. "She hasn't been feeling very well, has she?"

"Hans wasn't either," Alphonse pointed out. He stayed by the doorway while Edward walked in. "Aren't you feeling the same illness?"

Edward rubbed the wound on his face and nodded slightly. He sat down next to Noa, who was sleeping with a strained look on her face. He pointed to the scar running along her arm. "Our wounds that we received from the gate aren't healing. Hans had slight fatigue from the almost constant loss of blood. Noa must have the same thing. I'm just… ignoring the pain," Edward shook his head. "I can't stop now."

"What would happen if your wounds won't heal? They keep looking bigger than they were… brother?"

"I don't know," Edward said, brushing a few stray hairs behind Noa's ear. "When Noa was brought over here, I thought that the time five years ago when she wanted to come here was granted. Looks like I was wrong. The gate is finally acting against us, even more so. If my thoughts are right… Hans will try to open the gate to save himself."

"What if it's a trap?"

"Then we'll just have to spring it," Edward said, his voice firm. "I'm not allowing Winry to stay captured for long. Al, have some of the men come with us, just in case."

Alphonse ran outside and soon Edward led the way with six other men and Alphonse following. It was near mid afternoon when they reached the path for the cottage and Edward told them to slow down once they got closer. Once the cottage was in sight, he had them surround it. So far he hadn't noticed anything unordinary as the tire tracks started then stopped at the cottage and there weren't many footsteps from what he could see. He finally lifted his hand and motioned for everyone to get closer, and he quietly put a hand on the door-

-which the door exploded in front of him, flying him ten feet back. Edward took a deep breath as the wind had been knocked out of him and he jumped up, grateful that the blast hadn't given him any terrible burns. But he had _not_ been expecting that. He looked at his automail arm, the blue Military suit arm ripped off and the automail had turned black, but it was still pretty strong. The turned his attention back to the cottage, which at least five men walked out of. The men that he had brought were pointing their guns at the men who walked out calmly.

"Hans," Edward growled when he saw that it was he that was leading the men out. "I didn't want to believe it."

"I think now is the best time to start believing," Hans said. "Much is at risk."

"What's your whole plan?" Edward yelled at Hans, his anger at his limit. "What has the past five years been?"

"You're happy that you're over here, right?" Hans murmured. "But it wouldn't last for long. I knew it… The past five years has been interesting, Ed. I thank you for letting me able to believe that there really was another world. Too bad it has to go…"

Edward clapped his hands and let his automail transform into a sword. "Hans, you're surrounded. Tell us where Winry is."

"I'm afraid that's for later discussion," Hans said, and flicked his hand to the right. From the ground sprouted vines that wrapped around each of the men in the Military, surprising them. Their hands were taken control from the vines, and they now looked at the end of their gun in front of their face, their fingers on the trigger.

Edward rushed toward the men on the right and Alphonse headed for the men on the left, creating a sword from the rocks he was passing over. Edward flung his automail sword through the vines, but as he turned back around the vines had grew back and he attempted again to break the vines, but they grew back so quickly he didn't know how to keep them like that. He cursed and glared back at Hans.

"Hans, this is insane. Let them go!" Alphonse shouted. He stood beside Edward, pointing his spear at Hans who was ten feet away. "This is pointless."

"This is a game to my men," Hans shook his head. "They're under my orders and are happy to abide by it." He lifted his hand and flicked it again, and Edward and Alphonse gasped as the guns the men were holding went off and watched their forms fall limply to the ground surrounded by their own blood. Hans took a step forward, and more men gathered with him from the cottage. He was now surrounded by ten people.

Edward took a step forward, his fist shaking in anger.

"Yes, I know. I just ordered your innocent men to death," Hans voice became firm. "This is not a time to have sympathy. Much is at stake and I must not lose."

"Your men are Alchemists?" Alphonse muttered, mostly to himself. "This is going to be difficult for us."

Edward clapped his hands suddenly and quickly placed them on the ground. Spikes sprouted out from the ground toward Hans, but the other Alchemists pulled out a transmutation circle on a paper and used it to create a block against the spikes. Edward stood back up and waited for the blocks to fall away.

"They aren't there," Alphonse said, looking around. "Behind us?"

Edward looked away from the now empty cottage door way and listened intently around him. "It's been awhile since I've had to fight."

"Only five years," Alphonse said lightly, taking a step back. "One man comes behind from the forest. Get ready."

"Already am," Edward said. "Cover me."

"Got it."

Edward sprang backwards, running into the forest. Alphonse was close behind, clapping his hands against different trees, making their limbs twist and turn. By the time Edward reached the man that Alphonse had seen, Alphonse had already wrapped trees around the Alchemists sitting up in the trees. Edward kept his eyes on the man in front of him who was holding a long gun which was pointed at Edward. He stopped in his tracks and reached for the branch above him and jumped up, narrowly missing a gun shot.

The gun shots stopped as Edward jumped from branch to branch, and Edward noticed that the man was searching for him. He jumped down behind him, bringing his automail fist down against this neck and he felt his hand bounce right back off the neck, causing him to lose his balance and he fell backwards to the ground. He hadn't taken the time to realize that the man that was shooting at him was not just taller than him- he was wide and super tall. The man turned and pointed the gun at Edward, but Edward ran his sword through the gun, breaking it in half. The big man threw it to the side and dived at Edward, who rolled out of his way.

Edward noticed that the man had a strong armor around his upper torso, but that was about all the armor he had… Edward figured that the only way to defeat him without killing him was to break the armor. He swung under the oncoming fist and clapped his hands and quickly placed it on the armor. He had guessed it was steel and he transformed it into a lower substance that easily broke up once he touched it. He wound himself behind the man and once again aimed a fist for the neck, and this time the big man dropped to the ground unconscious. Edward took a deep breath and held his head for a moment, feeling a pounding headache and a tight pain in his stomach. He shook his head and continued to ignore the building pain.

Alphonse was fighting against a man who had the same weapon as him and Edward glanced up to the trees at the men who were staring angrily down at him, their fists stuck in the trees. Edward ran to help Alphonse but almost immediately tripped down to the ground when he looked back down to his foot to see a vine wrapped around it. He whacked it away and looked for the man that had attacked him-

-and he felt himself collapse against the ground, a crushing pain rising in his chest. He took a deep breath and found that he had a hard time breathing. Wrapping his hands around the cloth around his neck, he ripped his uniform away from his neck, but it did nothing. He felt his eyes go dark and he clenched the grass around him in pain.

"It seems the illness finally caught on," he heard Hans mutter above him. "Wake up, Sid." Edward heard a large thump. "Carry him to the car. Use the chloroform first."

"Ed!" Alphonse yelled.

Edward waited for his eyes to clear, then took a small breath, finally able to breath. He rolled away as fast as he could and jumped up, now facing Hans and the big man Sid.

"You're able to withstand that pain well," Hans said. "For awhile I thought you felt none."

"I'm pretty good at hiding pain," Edward said, every move of his mouth painful. "So what's the plan that you have? Was Winry the bait?"

Hans cheek muscle twitched. "You guessed right."

Alphonse reached Edward's side and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking worriedly at his brother.

"You overwork too much Edward," Hans shook his head in mock shame, "It'll cause your illness to take over." He motioned with his head for Sid to attack.

Alphonse stood in front of his brother, holding up his spear and taking a step forward. "You'll…" he stopped talking when Edward collapsed behind him. "Ed?" Alphonse yelled. Sid took the chance and reached out and grabbed the spear, yanking it out of Alphonse's hands. He used the end of it to bring under Alphonse's chin and threw him back a few feet from the ground.

Sid walked over to him and wacked the spear on Alphonse's head, causing Alphonse to lose consciousness. "Some Alchemist he is," Sid muttered as he walked back.

"Bring Edward to the car and make sure his hands are _not_ at close range to each other. Leave Alphonse here. We'll deliver the information that Karl wants us to later." Hans kneeled down to where Edward was and turned him over. "You lost this battle, Ed," he said close to Edward's ear. He knew Edward was still awake.

Edward did hear it, but he couldn't gather the strength to reply. He felt a cloth go over his mouth and he inhaled the sweet smell of chloroform, and then he lapsed fully unconscious.

Hans quickly freed the men up in the trees and headed for the car. His mission was over now. All he had to do more was wait for the final day to come. _The final day that Edward would be sacrificed, the Military destroyed in the war… _

_8 more days._

**Thanks for reviewing and don't forget to leave another one ;) **


	12. Choice

"You're telling me that he was kidnapped?" Roy demanded over the phone. "What in the blazes happened?"

Alphonse was currently sitting in a chair at Granny Pinako's house, a bag of ice against his blackened chin. He had rushed back the second he woke up, and he had reached the house by dark and had not even stopped to talk to Granny as he picked up the phone. As he asked for Roy, Granny had handed him ice wrapped in a towel, knowing that something had gone horribly wrong.

"It was Hans all along, Colonel," Alphonse said, anger grinding in his voice, "he and at least ten other men ganged up on us. They killed six of our men with alchemy."

Roy was silent for a moment, and then it sounded like he was looking at a piece of paper. "Alphonse, we just received information about the whole thing. It seems that Edward was kidnapped to open the gate- they're telling us of when and where. They're stationed at an old military base about three day's travel from here, and it seems like they want a war with our military."

"A battle they're determined to win, or else they wouldn't send any of this," Alphonse said. "What are you going to do?"

"Exactly what they want us to do, except we aren't going to lose. Edward is going to be forced to open the gate… For him, it's going to take two days to get to the Military base. This letter that we received also tells us of the date the gate opens…" Alphonse heard Roy turn a piece of paper over, "… the gate opens December 30th. That's eight days from now."

"They'll have at least six days to convince Edward to open the gate. We'll have five days to fight…"

"They want a weakened military by the time they open the gate," Roy muttered. "So they can escape through the gate and what, destroy us in the process? That's not possible."

"It is, if they have a certain weapon," Alphonse felt his body go rigid at the thought. "Back in Germany we were told of a Uranium bomb that was lost. It had been created here; what if it got in their hands and they brought it over here?"

"This'll be easy to convince the higher ups to send troops over. Alphonse, I want you to stay there until we get there. I want you to be ready to go. Have Noa come, too. If I'm thinking right, she's suffering the same and the only way to save her, _if _the gate is opened, is to send her back."

"But Edward is suffering the same…!"

"I know," Roy said, his voice hard. "I know what you're thinking."

Alphonse muttered, "Alright. We'll be ready."

Roy hung up.

* * *

"Edward… you really got yourself mixed up in this."

Edward groaned, but turned over to his side to glance at the person talking to him. "Winry?" He sat up, wincing at the slight pain, to confirm who he thought it was. He smiled when he saw Winry sitting on a bed across from him, then frowned when he saw that she was handcuffed and her feet were also bound.

"You're not in any better position than me," Winry muttered, flicking her eyes down to Edward's hands, which were kept apart by a thin but sturdy wooden block. "You can't use Alchemy with your hands like that."

Edward nodded slightly. "So… what happened to your foot?"

Winry sighed. "Tried to escape. Caught myself in a hunting trap. Didn't work, as you can see."

"When were you captured?"Edward said, leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes.

"When I arrived home. It was late and I hadn't expected to see Hans there. He really took me by surprise…" She shook her head. "Anyways, I guess you're wondering where you are."

"Right."

"We're at an old Military base out in the middle of nowhere. I've been around the base a little bit… it's like a huge castle. Strange, really…"

"I guess there are no means for escape, huh…" Edward said, his voice soft. "How long was I out?"

"Two days. They put you out a lot for the traveling portion."

"Damn," Edward rubbed his face, though it was quite difficult with the block on his hands. He felt stubble on his face and he guessed that he was quite a sight right now. He put his hands down and stared at the floor, thinking hard about the whole thing. The gate. He was brought here for the gate. In what means did they want him to open it? He knew the transmutation circle. But what sacrifice did they want? Edward felt his anger start to rise. Why did they feel the right to sacrifice others? It wasn't right!

"What are you thinking, Ed?" Winry asked, her voice quiet.

"About the whole thing. This is just a mess…" Edward muttered. "You're brought into it, I have to face another decision soon…" he closed his eyes. The sacrifice… he was it. He would have to do it to save the others, if possible. He couldn't risk anyone else. But what else did Hans have up his sleeve?

"Is the decision…" Winry trailed off on her question and Edward stayed silent, not wanting to answer her question.

"I'm glad to see you're safe, Winry," Edward said. "And… look. I'm really sorry that you were pulled into this."

"Me too."

"And I'm sorry for the dance…"

"This isn't the time to talk about that," Winry shook her head, her voice angry.

Edward let his voice take the same tone as hers. "When is the time to talk about it then? Winry, I had run for so long…"

"I know," Winry said quickly. "That's all you do: run. I thought that I could finally confirm that your feelings were the same as mine, but I was confused by the bond that you and Noa share."

Edward blinked, his mouth open, and then he closed it and thought of something to say. "Winry…"

The door creaked open and Hans peeked his head in. "Ah, Edward. You're awake."

"No thanks to you," Edward said, standing up and ignoring the slight dizziness. "What do you want?"

"I think you know exactly what we want, Edward," Hans said smoothly, watching for Edward's reaction, who didn't say anything but had a comprehending look in his eyes. "There's just some things we need to discuss." He opened the door completely and two men, Sid and another guy of the same size, came and gripped Edward's arms, practically dragging him through the doors. "I'm afraid Miss Rockbell will have to stay here."

Edward cast a strained look back at Winry as the door closed. He turned his head back to Hans when he heard the door slam and took a step forward, only to be pulled back. "I know what you're planning, Hans. It won't work."

Hans started walking. "If you won't do it, then you suffer the same fate as I will. We will die within the next month, Edward. Noa, too."

"I won't let any other sacrifices be made just so you and she can be saved."

"The other sacrifices? Ah, you mean the Military. You see, Edward, we have brought men from far places here. They are all Alchemists' and do not have any love for Military. This is our own army against the Military that is coming within a day here. You have two choices, Ed: One, you let my army destroy your Military- ours is more well equipped than yours. Two, you open the gate to let us through and there will be no bloodshed… except for your own."

"What's the catch for choice two, other than the obvious one?"

"Choice two it is then…" Hans said, ignoring Edward's question. Hans knew choice two wasn't possible as a battle would happen anyways.

"Anyways, Edward… You have six days to think it over. I'm afraid you won't be able to meet Karl, the man entirely behind this, until then."

"Great," Edward muttered. "You really like playing with people, don't you?"

"It's one of things I enjoy," Hans shrugged. "Take him back to his room."

"You're going to get it one of these days, Hans!" Edward spat out as he was dragged away. "I'll make sure you get what is coming to you!"

Hans turned away from him. _Really, Edward… you've lost._

Edward sat down on the bed without looking at Winry, his mind confused. If only he and Noa weren't at risk with their lives like Hans was… it would be so much easier. He's sacrificed his life once already… Edward clenched his hands into fists. If need be, he was prepared to do it again.

He just had to make sure there wouldn't be any other catch. Obviously Hans sounded like they had more weapons than the Military- what did he have? Tanks? Edward thought back to the history that he learned about Germany. Germany had used tanks, but they definitely weren't the country most successful with them. It's possible that they could have sent plans over to Amestris and start building them…

What about bombs? The Uranium bomb was from Amestris, but was brought over to Germany. The location wasn't sure, but perhaps… it was brought back over to Amestris. Somehow. What if they could duplicate the Uranium bomb somehow? Edward groaned. So many different possibilities could be out there right now.

Hopefully Alphonse was thinking the same things as him.

**A shorter chapter to start the ending. **

**Anyone going to Kumoricon '08? I'm going to try to make it to the fanfiction panel, if they have one, to check the fanfics out. :) **

**And thanks for reviewing!**


	13. Begin

**Italics mean speaking in German. **

Edward was getting tired of waiting in the dark room with Winry. They hadn't said much to each other throughout the time, but his impatience was fading. It had been three days since he had been put in there and they hadn't had any news. Winry was getting weaker and weaker by every day because of her foot; Edward guessed infection was spreading since she hadn't had the proper care.

He needed to get her out somehow and fast. He just needed Hans and everyone to be distracted and gain everything was all _somehow_.

Standing up from his cot, he headed over to the door and tried the lock. It wasn't strong and he could easily remove it with Alchemy…

"Winry, where's your screwdriver?"

He heard Winry clear her throat and said, "In a side pocket inside my shoe."

"I think we should keep that in mind for further use," Edward said, walking back to the cot, "and get this thing off of both of us. You're still able to use your hands enough."

"I don't know if the screwdriver will really help," Winry shook her head. "It's not big enough."

"We have to try somehow," Edward said. "Two more days of waiting in here and not hearing anything until the military comes… and I'm guessing it's on its way."

"Let's hope."

* * *

The layout of the battlefield was well planned out, Alphonse decided. The military base that Hans was in was made of one of the strongest metals and stone, and it was already surrounded by at least a ten foot stone wall with spiked barbed wire on the top of the wall. People were standing on platforms behind the wall, staring at the military as it came with full forces.

Alphonse had his own little fleet assigned to him and he pulled at his blue military color, trying to get cooler. Edward wouldn't be happy that Alphonse joined the military so quickly, but it was really the only way that Alphonse could have a small fleet assigned to him and his job required them; they were going to find a way in while the rest fought on the battlefield.

He had three days to successfully complete his first mission in the Military, and he wouldn't fail it.

"Colonel Mustang," he said and nodded as the Colonel walked up to him.

"Major Alphonse," Roy said, also giving a quick nod. "Has it looked like they're sending anyone out?"

"Not yet. We're just being stared down by their watchmen," Alphonse said and pointed to the men.

"We have a white flag and we're walking up in five minutes. You in?"

"Yeah," Alphonse said. "I want a few things to say to Hans before this gets started…"

"Great," Roy grinned at him, though it was forced. He was just like Alphonse and didn't want to fight in this battle… but of course that was their duty. Alphonse followed Roy and another man who was holding a white flag and the gates opened to let them through.

They halted in the middle and waited for the door to open, and which it did. They watched Hans walk gracefully to them, a slight smirk on his face and he was now dressed in a long black coat that hid most of his wounds. The men that were following they didn't recognize, but they sure were going to find out.

"Ah, Alphonse," Hans smiled at him once he stopped in front of them. "The blue uniform suits you. Edward wouldn't be happy."

"At this time I don't think he will care," Alphonse said quietly. "Where is he?"

"With Winry," Hans said. "Other than the two of them, let's discuss business." He looked from Alphonse to Roy, who was glaring angrily at him. "Colonel Mustang, nice to meet you again."

"I can't say the same, sadly," Roy said. "You called us out here and we know this whole deal is to open the gate. Exactly how do you plan to do that?"

"It'll be simple," Hans said, a grin appearing on his face. "But I'm afraid you'll have to wait to see _that_ finale." He stepped up closer to Roy's face. "_This is war_." He looked at Alphonse. "_I hope that you find your brother soon. You might not be seeing him again."_

Alphonse stepped up angrily to Hans, surprised at himself for letting him becoming angry, but said, "_Edward knows where his duties lie and he will come back."_

"_But not in one piece_," Hans smirked. "_Edward needs to get back to Germany, or else he won't survive over here. How do you know that Edward just won't open the gate for his own sake?"_

"_Because I _know_ my brother, unlike you. If he does open the gate, it's only because others lives were at stake_."

"_Then how is the gate going to be opened_?" Hans's smile became even wider. "_You know how the gate works_."

Alphonse turned away, still angry, though he only acted now. "_See you on the battlefield, Hans." _He walked away.

Hans nodded and turned on his heel, one man following and one man standing and looking at Roy.

"My name is Karl," the man introduced himself to Roy. "I hope you have fun recognizing the criminals you put to jail all those years ago."

"There was no news on escaped criminals from jails," Roy said. "These men that you have clearly released though are being sent back to jail, with you included."

"There was no news, because the escaped criminals became in charge of the jails," Karl said. "There's a fact that you can no longer change during the next few days."

"Don't underestimate me," Roy snapped.

"I don't underestimate," Karl said, giving a nod with his head then followed after Hans.

Roy followed after Alphonse, who was already outside the gate. "Alphonse, wait!"

Alphonse kept walking until he was a safe distance from the wall and stopped to let Roy catch up. "I figured it out."

"What?"

"The gate is only going to require Hans, Edward, and Noa to open the gate. They won't need sacrifices other than themselves," Alphonse said. "Edward needs to realize that. If he can open the gate, which is currently taking his own blood, then he can make a deal."

"A deal that would rid of him of another limb," Roy said angrily. "He can't do that."

"Edward would be willing to sacrifice anything," Alphonse said sadly. "Though I shouldn't speak for him. I don't know what the gate plans, but I'm pretty sure that is how it will work. Hans is worked up about using sacrifices to open the gate, partly why he let us bring such a large military group out here. But that won't happen. The gate already has its own sights on sacrifices and it will not open if it doesn't have those three."

"But what about Noa?"

Alphonse looked at the ground grimly. "I don't know what will happen to her, either. She might be able to get through if we have a strong enough mechanism, but the gate possibly might require something from her… I can't say. Edward came through last time with an airplane, and if I'm thinking right, that's how they're going to get back.

"We can't win fully, Colonel," Alphonse's voice cracked, thinking of the death that could happen.

"Nobody ever does, Alphonse," Roy said firmly, putting a hand on Alphonse's shoulder. "But we _will_ succeed in our mission. Now, start planning. That's an order."

"Yes, sir," Alphonse said and went over to his men.

The battle, it seemed, was very close.

Hans made the first move.

From outside the military base, four rectangle boards that had been covered in sand dropped from inside the ground, one part still connected to the ground. A large grounding side from beneath the ground and Alphonse watched wearily as tanks rolled up from the ground, the design clearly German. He looked at the own machinery his own military had: the tanks they had were not as developed as the German's, but it had the same idea. Most of them had been fashioned with a machine gun which could obliterate a person in a second.

The landscape between the Hans base and their military was smooth except for a few small hills, but if the military moved towards the base they wouldn't stand a chance. Machine guns had been placed on the wall, the men prepared to shoot when they would come in range. Alphonse knew that they had to think of something before they were all killed.

"We're lucky that Hans doesn't know the outline of this base," Roy said, walking up to Alphonse. "I couldn't believe that he had chosen this base, because it was the perfect one."

"How is that?" Alphonse asked, surprised.

"This base has tons of tunnels underneath the base which lead to almost every other room, and it all starts from two tunnels that start about where we are. They're hidden in the ground, but an easy digging will find them in a bit. My men already know all this, and we have disguised it so they won't even know of tunnels," Roy said, a sly look on his face. "I'm going to have to thank Hans after this is over."

Alphonse nodded. "I'm going in tonight and I'm going to use the tunnels to find Edward."

"Good. Edward will be able to help to destroy it from the inside… I'm guessing by tonight my men will have taken care of the wall," Roy said. "Then their tanks will be stuck between the wall and our own tanks. We'll give them a choice to surrender, but if they fire we will have no choice but to fight back."

"Understood," Alphonse said. "Then, I'm going to tell my men the plan."

* * *

Edward paced in the room, walking from one wall to the other. He was getting impatient about this whole deal. Winry was currently sleeping and Edward felt his own body wanting sleep, even though he hadn't done anything. He finally set down on a cot, but bolted up when the whole room shook and they heard a large booming noise in the distance.

Winry sat up, woken by the noise. "What was that?"

"The military is here," Edward said, running to the door. Another boom sounded and the room shook harder. "Winry, I need that screwdriver right now."

"Got it," Winry reached inside her boot and ripped open a pocket, and motioned Edward over. "This may take awhile."

"Just do it," Edward commanded and held out his hands. She took hold of the board and the lock, putting the screwdriver in. She twisted it for a few moments, trying to visualize the outline of inside the lock.

"I just need to add some pressure… here," she muttered, turning the screwdriver a certain way. The lock popped and the block was off Edward's hands in a matter of seconds. Edward rubbed his wrist from how tight the block had been, then he clapped his hands and placed his automail hand on Winry's handcuffs and then her leg binds, quickly undoing them.

"Can you walk?"

"I can hobble," Winry said, getting up. "I can only put light pressure on it."

"Alright," Edward said, and quickly broke the door. He looked to the left and right, seeing no one. "Keep close." He headed out with Winry following down the dark hall.

* * *

Alphonse wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, taking a deep breath. He was currently in the tunnel, holding a lantern. His men stood behind him, ready for his command. They waited until a first blast boomed from outside the base, then he motioned for them to move. They headed into the dozen of corridors, having only one man as a guide who had worked at the base beforehand and knew the layout.

"We're currently underneath the Waiting Hall, where I'm guessing all the men are. That's where they stay, or wait, until they are called on to fight. If you listen you can hear their feet pound against the cement," the man said, pausing in his talk. "We'll need to be heading east of that."

"They'll most likely have a few guards every hallway," Alphonse said. "We need to be quiet and stealthy, and take the men out quietly. I'll head first and follow my lead." He took a few steps, and then quickened his pace to the next tunnel, which the man said led to a door behind a bookcase which they would have to move to the side.

They quickly reached the sliding door and they had enough hand space to push the lightweight bookshelf away. They all stepped out into one of the basements and tiptoed up the stairs. Alphonse peered out the doorway and held two fingers up back to the men, seeing only two men walking the corridor. He stepped out and put his hand on the floor, drawing a transmutation circle. He made the extra wood and stone on the floor move towards the men's feet and it wrapped around their feet, making them stop. Two men rushed behind Alphonse and grabbed the men's mouths to prevent them from screaming. They sank to the floor, unconscious.

Alphonse kept going.

* * *

Edward stopped and motioned for Winry to do the same. He pulled Winry into a shadow, hiding themselves from Hans who passed them, not noticing that they were there. He was followed by Karl and they both seemed unhappy. Edward knew he shouldn't cause any scenes right now as that would stop them from escaping, so he tried to wait… patiently.

It wasn't until five minutes later that he stood up and pulled Winry with him, who was matching his pace despite her wound. He tightened his grip on her hand reassuringly as he pulled her along.

He peered around the next corner. "There's at least four men here."

"Let's take them," Winry said, her voice confident.

"Are you sure you can fight?" Edward asked, looking back at her.

"Don't worry," Winry said, smiling at him. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Your wrench is here?" Edward whispered, wondering how he had the will to joke with her.

"Ha ha," Winry said. "But no."

"Ok. I'll lead. I'll take the two guys in the back, and you get the front."

"Lead on then."

Edward stepped around the corner, pushing himself in between the men and shoving them towards Winry. He quickly made the sword in his automail arm and got rid of the guns in their hands, and even though they rushed to pull out an alchemic circle, he quickly tore those up. The men were knocked out in seconds, and Edward sped around to look at Winry…

… who had stolen the guns from the men's hands, one broken on the floor, and the other bashing down on the man's head. It broke in half and she let go, quickly dodging the other man's punch, landing a kick in his gut. Edward quickly rushed and bashed his hand on the man's head, knowing full well that it would knock him unconscious.

Edward watched Winry take a step back, wincing as she let herself recognize the pain again. He held out his hand to her, and she took it without a word, and once again they were running around the long halls, quickly taking out any men they came across.

They were near, for that Alphonse was sure. They kept coming across men knocked out in the halls, most of their guns sliced clean through. Hans had come into their view and they were far enough away that Hans didn't spot them: he looked distracted anyways, probably annoyed by the fact that he hadn't known about the underground tunnels. Alphonse guessed that Hans couldn't even go outside because the wall was taken over. The men he probably had left were inside, but Alphonse and his men were taking care of them…

… but Alphonse knew that Hans had another trick. He just hoped the military outside would be prepared. He quickened his pace, knowing that Edward was just around the corner, and hopefully Winry was beside him. He turned the corner, hearing a crunch of a broken leg and found Edward grabbing Winry's hands ready to start running again, three men knocked out at their feet.

"Ed!" Alphonse shouted, running up to him.

Edward stopped in his tracks and his face lightened up as Alphonse ran to him. "Al! What's happening?"

"Everything," Alphonse replied. "Our military is outside the base and we're slowly taking it over from the inside."

"So quickly?" Edward asked. "How is the outside?"

"I don't know. We'll have to see when we get out there."

"How about we go find Hans?"

"And Karl," Winry added.

Alphonse nodded. "Sounds good."

The three of them rushed towards where they had seen Hans, their men following. Alphonse kept glancing at Edward, worried about the choices that he would have to make. He didn't want to lose his brother again, nor Noa, and he was pretty sure that Winry didn't want to lose Edward again also. The thought sickened his stomach as he ran…he couldn't help it.


	14. Gone

The pain kept him going. It willed him on, making him recognize that he needed to keep on going. Winry was right beside him, in pain like himself. Edward was happy that Alphonse had found them and that the base was being taken over… but he couldn't feel like this would turn out. He probably wouldn't survive for the next month if they defeated Hans anyways… he needed to reach Hans and end this.

"Brother," Alphonse whispered, stopping in his walk. He dusted off his shoulder and straightened out his blue military jacket to keep his hand occupied. He felt nervous and upset.

"What is it?" Edward asked.

Alphonse grabbed Edward's arm and pulled him away from the others so they couldn't hear him. "What are your thoughts?"

Edward blinked, wondering on which thoughts he meant. "On what?"

"The gate," Alphonse whispered harshly.

"I've tried not to," Edward growled. "But I already know what I need to do." Alphonse opened his mouth to speak, but Edward cut him off. "You already seem to know too. Al, this is the only way and we can only hope that it will turn out." Edward let his eyes drift back to Winry, who was leaning on the wall, her foot being wrapped by a soldier who had ripped a piece of his shirt off as new bandage. "Don't tell Winry. She doesn't know the full story."

"Why not tell her that you might be leaving again?" Alphonse said. "It might be permanent this time."

"I'm not afraid of death," Edward said, shaking his head. "The gate has made me realize that. I've gone to both worlds and I have the power to make everything right again."

"I think now is a time for you to try to go against death," Alphonse said. "The gate will pull you through once you draw the alchemic circle."

"But…"

"Do it, for Winry's sake," Alphonse said, glaring at Edward. Alphonse let go of Edward's arm and headed back to lead the others on. "We're off to find Hans."

Edward grabbed Winry's arm and started walking, making sure Winry had little to no pressure on her foot. Her weight was hurting him, but he ignored it. They turned the corner and up a flight of stairs to an empty hall and they jogged to the end of it, looking around the corner. At the corner rested a door, which the guide said was the observation deck where Hans would most likely be.

"We take him out once we get in the door," Alphonse said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Winry, you stay back here. Edward, can you destroy the door?"

Edward turned to Winry and brought her to a nearby corner. "Stay here," he said. "I'll come back." She nodded and he waited for her to step back a few feet and the men to line up behind the door. He clapped his hands, then placed his hands on the door as quietly as he could. He destroyed the door and made it fly away from him and he watched it fall off the deck, but he turned his attention to the side of him where Hans was rushing at him, hands out, an alchemic circle sewn on his gloves.

"You're here!" Hans yelled, his voice gleeful. "Just as planned!" His voice was high pitched as he yelled, making him sound slightly insane. Edward ducked the fist that was aimed for his face and dropped to his knees and rolled to the right.

"Alphonse!" Edward said, jumping to his feet. "Now!"

The men rushed in the doorway, facing their guns towards Hans and they began shooting at him, causing Hans to duck out of the way. Hans put his hands to the floor and made spikes come out of the ground aimed at the soldiers, but Alphonse countered by turning the spikes into harmless sand and he jumped towards Hans when the gunfire stopped. He swung a fist into Hans face, narrowly missing. Hans fell to his feet, lifting his leg and hooking it around Alphonse's, knocking him to the ground.

Edward grabbed Alphonse by his upper torso and yanked him out of the way as the soldiers began shooting again, then turned his head to look at them once their shooting stopped. Behind them a long stick of metal was through their throats, causing them to choke and drop down to the ground twitching. The long piece of metal that was through their necks reminded him of the Homunculi Lust's ability with her nails.

Hans didn't give Edward and Alphonse a chance to recover from the loss of the soldiers as he brought down a metal bar down on them. Edward rushed to parry with the sword on his arm and he struggled to push Hans away, being on one knee and Hans forcing full weight on the sword. Alphonse had jumped away and jumped over the dead soldiers, finding himself facing their killer: Sid. In his hands he carried long sticks of metal that he flung Alphonse's way and Alphonse barely dodged them, crashing into the wall on the other side.

He stumbled back and forth toward Sid, knowing full well that his fate would be the same as the soldier's if he wasn't careful enough. He brought his hand across the wall, making a stump appear a few feet in front of him. Placing a foot on top, he let himself spring up and flip over Sid, barely missing the ceiling. He clapped his hands as he came down and placed them on Sid's back, but Sid turned around and swiped a metal bar, raking it against Alphonse's hand and ripping the alchemic circle on his glove. Alphonse held back a curse and rolled around Sid, whipping out an extra glove and yanking it on, and placed his hands on Sid's leg.

The bone in Sid's leg snapped in two, causing Sid to crash to the floor. Alphonse quickly did it to the other leg and kicked the metal bars out of the ways and stood up, watching Sid writhe on the floor. He knocked him out by hitting him on the back of the neck and looked around for Winry, who should've been out there when Alphonse jumped out of the room. She wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Edward had managed to lift Hans off the ground and flip him behind him, making him land on his back. Edward swerved around on his foot, bring his auto mail sword towards Hans throat, but it was knocked away with a piercing sound. Edward felt the metal wrist joint snap and cursed when he saw his hand hanging by a few attached parts. He clapped his hands and melted the outside of the wrist on the arm to make it stay. He looked up to the sight of Winry holding a gun to Hans's head.

"Winry?" Edward said, surprised. He hadn't seen her come in the room and he didn't want her to see what was happening, too.

"Edward," Winry said, pointing the gun closer to Hans's head, making him cringe. "I thought you needed some help."

"I told you to stay out there," Edward said.

"I wanted to make sure you fulfilled your promise about coming back," Winry said, her voice light. "Edward."

Edward started to stand up to reply to Winry… but he felt a large _something_ hit his stomach, forcing him to flip backwards over the side of the railing, which he hadn't fully realized was there. He grabbed a hold of the railing before he fell completely over and he collided into side, looking up. Winry had rushed over and was staring down stricken at him, a man behind her and Hans holding her own gun to her head.

"Hallo, Edward Elric," the man that he didn't know said. "I'm Karl. I'm sorry I haven't been introduced to you until now."

Edward growled up at him but focused on placing his feet on the sides, getting a firm grip with his shoes. "You sure play dirty, hitting me with a block of cement without me knowing of you." _He broke a few of my ribs_, Edward noticed.

"Indeed," Karl said lightly, as if sighing. "Hans. This has all gone wrong, you know. The gate wasn't supposed to be opened for a few days. The men on the other side will be unprepared."

"The men on the other side will get ready no matter what," Hans said. "They're prepared to bring over everything once the gate is opened."

"I trust you to bring them over here when possible," Karl said. He wound his fingers around Winry's arm and pulled her closer to him. "Edward, I suppose you know what I'm going to ask right now."

"I'm afraid you have the wrong idea about the gate," Edward said, his arms now straining from holding himself on the wall. "I want you to call a cease fire." Edward could still hear a battle raging behind him, the occasional booms from firepower and the crisp sound of alchemy working.

"And why is that?" Karl said, his eyebrow lifting as he gazed down at Edward in question.

"Because it's the only way I could open the gate," Edward said. "Let me get up and let us walk down to the courtyard." He let his eyes travel to Winry, who staring at him with a very confused look on her face. He broke his gaze with her and started to lift himself up.

"Call your brother off our back and we'll let you up," Hans said. Alphonse had a gun in each hand pointed at both of their heads, glaring harshly. "Drop your guns, Alphonse. You have too much at risk as of now."

"Edward…?" Alphonse said, his voice sounding like he was at a loss for what to do.

"Listen to him," Edward said as he lifted himself over the railing. Hans grabbed his arm and yanked him over, not bothering to be careful. Karl raised his gun and shot three shots into the air, which made Edward guess that was the signal for cease fire.

"I'll stay up here with Ms. Rockbell," Karl said, gripping Winry's arm harder.

"Edward," Winry said, her voice barely a whisper. "What's going to happen?"

"I don't know," he said as he passed her. "Just don't wait for me."

"Why not?" Winry said, her voice getting louder. "I believe you'll be back, wherever you're going. Don't doubt yourself and come back, Edward. Come back to me."

"No promises," Edward said, still not looking at her. He headed out the door with Alphonse, who had dropped the guns to the ground. Hans had guns pointed to their backs and soon they were walking out into the courtyard, where Karl's men had gathered. "I need chalk," Edward said.

"Edward!" Roy called out, walking into the courtyard. "What are you doing?" He was sweating and his blue jacket was torn to shreds; his side was bleeding, but not badly. He was glaring and kept an eye out of the men around him. When Edward didn't answer him, he looked at Karl. "You got your battle that you wanted." He looked around at the few men standing around and smirked. "Your Alchemists were no match for my Military or your machines."

"There are hostages here," Karl called out, shoving Winry foreword. "You just sit back and watch, Mustang."

Edward gazed up at Winry sadly then took the piece of chalk that was handed to him. He went to his knees slowly, wincing at the pain in his ribs. It had already felt like his stomach was getting torn up from the inside and the broken ribs weren't helping. He probably splintered some, too. He was in no shape to move around right now but he started making the Alchemic circle.

"Noa!" Hans called out. "I want Noa brought here! I trust you brought her here?"

"I'm here," Noa said, appearing beside Roy, who looked surprised that she had crept up to the battlefield. She walked to the side of the alchemic circle and gazed at Edward, who took a step off the circle and looked at her. He held out his hand to her and she took it, and he led her onto the completed circle.

Hans took one step closer to the circle. "Noa! Come with me. Edward will open the gate and then I can send you home."

Noa shook her head. She gazed at Edward and he knew that she had read his mind about his plan. She took a step closer to Edward.

"Noa!" Hans took even closer steps to the circle. "With me you'll be able to survive and rid ourselves of this disease!" Hans grinned madly as he walked towards. "Come!"

"Edward!" Karl called out. "Do it now!" He pointed to the Military side. "You know what you must do!"

"Yes, I do," Edward said in a loud voice. _ But not what you think. There will be no sacrifices other than us_! He was now standing in the middle of the circle, holding Noa's hand tightly.

Hans put his foot on the alchemic circle.

And watched it shine blue.

"_We_ are the only ones that can open the gate right now," Edward shouted. He watched the blue light shine all around him and he ran over to Hans and pulled him in farther. He looked down to his feet and saw the ground disappearing from his feet but he still stood in the air… then he felt his feet begin to rip to shreds. He watched in horror as his skin ripped off one small piece at a time, then he heard the loud yells of Noa and Hans as their legs began to shred like his.

Agony. Pain. That's all he felt. Was the gate taking them all, just like that? The long black arms from the gate never came out; they were being shredded up. Edward felt his hands began to disappear and he eventually began to hear his own yell amongst Noa and Hans…

Alphonse gazed in horror as he watched his brother scream as his feet began to disappear. "Edward?" he screamed and rushed towards the gate, but the blue light pushed him away and he landed ten feet behind him on his back. Roy attempted the same, his eyes wide in disbelief. He was thrown back and he groaned in pain as he tried to sit up, the blue light giving him the same electrical shock Alphonse had got.

Alphonse watched his brother disappear, his legs shredding and arms shredding. The three of them disappeared in a bright flash… and in a second, the gate was gone. Nothing was there anymore as they just looked at the bare pavement of the courtyard. He stood up slowly and looked at Winry, who had somehow rushed beside him. The look of pain and disbelief in her eyes was unmistakable.

Edward, Noa, and Hans were gone.

**I feel like I really rushed this and that's not a good feeling. Grrr. **

**School starts tomorrow but that shouldn't affect my updating time, as I fail at updating soon already. I hope you continue reading this story until the end! **

**Please leave your review with your thoughts on this chapter. **

**Anyone who went to Kumoricon- I barely stepped into the fanfiction panel. I was distracted with so many things. I didn't stay for Fanfiction Bedtime stories! T3T**


	15. End

It wasn't the pain in his limbs that made him cry out. The agony he felt in his heart made up for that. He couldn't control his limbs – if they were even there anymore – and he couldn't see where he was going, except all around him was just the same yellow, endless abyss.

This was unfair.

He knew he didn't say that before he was taken, but he now wanted to scream that it was unfair to him. But it was too late. His life was once again in the gate's hands.

_Life_ was unfair.

* * *

He woke up with a gasp and he sat up quickly, which made his vision fuzzy. He realized he was in a bed, and his left arm and forehead had a white bandage on them. The room he was in was almost bare; it contained nothing more than a bed and a desk, covered in paper and dust.

The door opened and the familiar face of Maes Hughes peered through. "You're awake," he stated. "I was wondering when you would wake up." He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

Edward was all too grateful that Maes had found him. He hadn't known where he would show up… but he guessed it was the place that he had been taken to Amestris by Hans. He would ask for that information later. And right, he had to speak German. "How long was I out?"

"Three days, almost," Maes went over to the desk and sat down on top and crossed his arms. "Want to tell me why you three disappeared?"

"Are they safe?" Edward said, ignoring his question.

"Noa's fine," Maes said, his voice sounding sad. "I found Hans a little after I found the both of you. Actually… I just found his corpse, Ed. It was completely drained of blood." He made a disgusted face, probably remember Dietlinde Eckhart. "Did you go back there?"

Edward nodded, keeping silent. He ran a hand through his hair as he grimaced at the realization that Hans was forever gone.

"Noa woke up a day before you. She hasn't wanted to talk about anything… I think you should go talk to her after you've eaten. Actually, she's in the kitchen."

"I'll see her, then," Edward said, shaking his head. He put both feet on the ground, feeling two cold feet. He looked down slowly at his left leg, then at his right hand. He clenched his fist, not minding the pain of his fingernails digging into his hand.

Maes stood up and walked two steps toward him. "I couldn't believe it when I saw your hand. I remembered seeing it the first time a few years ago, and it wasn't real." He scratched his head. "The things that happen to you are just unbelievable."

"I didn't want most of those things to happen to me," Edward pointed out quietly, still looking at his clenched hand. He muttered, "Life is unfair," while he stood up and changed into fresh clothing put beside the bed, glowering at everything that came into his sight.

"Ed…"

"Shut up," Edward said and slammed the door when he walked out. He almost stopped himself, but then just sighed and continued walking. He wasn't a teenager anymore. He was twenty three, for heaven's sake. A cry came from the room next to him and he realized that Gracia must have had her baby while he was in Amestris. He wondered if the baby was Elysia and he opened the door to the kitchen, he let his anger subside once his gaze rested on Noa. She was staring at a cup of tea with both hands on the sides, hair falling loosely down the side of her face, her eyes blank.

"Hey." He walked in the kitchen and sat down across the table from Noa. "How are you?"

She stayed quiet and Edward sighed, got up and poured himself some tea and sat back down. It wasn't until his glass was half empty that Noa lifted her head slightly.

"I saw images," she said quietly. Her eyes were red and looked like she had been crying for awhile. "Images of Hans. The gate. You. Myself." She shook her head and Edward saw her eyes cloud up with tears. "For some reason I saw so much more than last time I passed through. I saw a possible future for you… and me. But I saw nothing of Hans. I forced Mr. Hughes to let me see his body when I woke up… I couldn't tear my eyes off his body. The gate had shown me what would happen and I couldn't prevent it."

"Noa…"

"I'm going to go with the Roma once they pass through this town again," she said suddenly. "It'll be a good time to think everything over and actually plan what I want to do with my life." She held out her hand across the table, still looking at her tea. "Let me hold your hand. Your right one."

Edward put his hand in hers and waited for her to speak.

"The gate showed me that it would give you back your limbs," Noa said. "And it would stop the illness that plagued you and me. It seemed you're the only one that gained something back."

"I lost my life in Amestris," Edward said lightly. "I lost Alphonse and Winry. The only question I have is why I gained back my limbs."

"I felt that you should when I was in the gate… and it did. I didn't want you to suffer with limbs that didn't work over here," Noa finally looked up and smiled sadly at him. "Though I lost my power to see things for it."

"What?" Edward said, surprised. "Noa!"

"I know," Noa said, wiping her eyes with her free hand. "Most of my life I've asked myself why me? Why did I have this ability? I've always been an outcast because I couldn't play with the other kids when I was younger as the slightest touch with them made me unable to think of anything except their memories. It took me so long to control it like I have… But now, I feel like I've lost a part of me. It's hard to explain."

Edward stared at his tea, not knowing what to say.

"But I'll get used to it," Noa said. "That's why I want to leave. I want to start a new life away from this place… It's the only way I think I'll get back on my feet."

"I understand."

"Anyways, I think you should thank Mr. Hughes. He said he's searched for us when he could and that he was lucky to have discovered us there. The men that Hans were planning to meet once he crossed through and send back to Amestris were arrested by the government a few days ago before he found us."

"How has Hughes been treating you?" Edward asked, leaning back and taking a sip of his tea. "He wasn't the most hospitable one before we were taken."

"He's alright, now… but when I leave I'll probably make him feel better, since I'm staying in his home and all," Noa said and finished the last of her tea. "I'll stay here for the next few days, but that's it. What will you do, Ed?"

Edward sighed. "I really don't know. Stay here, I guess… I haven't had time to think yet." He didn't know what to think.

"They buried Hans in the local graveyard," Noa said. "In case you wondered."

Edward nodded but didn't say anything.

_Few days later._

Edward watched Noa pick up a small bag and smooth out her dress with her free hand. Her cheeks were flushed from the cool morning air but her face still looked depressed. They heard a cart approach and Noa turned to Edward.

"This is where we part," Noa said, her voice cracked, sounding like she was about to burst into tears. She held out a hand to Edward, who shook her hand firmly once.

"I can't help but thinking this is the last time I'll see you," Noa said. She placed a hand on Edward's cheek and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll come back when I can and see you, Edward."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Edward said and watched Noa walk away from him, shoulder's straight, and she passed the corner headed for the cart. Edward looked down at his feet and kicked a nearby pebble. "I'll be here."

_Three months later._

The day was like any other day- cold despite the sunny rays coming down throughout the town. Edward would be happy when he wouldn't have to wear an extra layer of clothing just so he wouldn't have to freeze. It was March and spring was just arriving. The town was buzzing and happy, but Edward still felt alone. He had left Maes's house a week after Noa left and had found a cheap place to live by himself and a job at a cheap mechanics store. He didn't know everything about mechanics, but it kept him busy and didn't give him much time to think.

He was now twenty five and just wished time would stop, but he knew he wouldn't have anything to do even if time stopped. He hadn't touched any book he came across that dealt with Alchemy nor had he tried to draw the Alchemic circle to draw the gate; he was just tired. Maybe fate really did exist and was telling him something, but Edward just didn't know. He entered the mechanic shop and took off his jacket, setting it on the table. He picked up a pencil and quickly jotted down some things on paper.

"Hey," Maes said as he walked through the door to the mechanic's shop. "I have an invitation for you, Edward."

"What for?" Edward said, not looking up his paper which he was filling out.

"Well, it's not a paper invitation… but the bar is celebrating its first year in business. The owner told me to invite people as he'll provide drinks and there'll be dancing, too," Maes said. "The reason for me inviting you is that you need to get out of this shop."

"It's possible that I may go," Edward said after awhile. "When is it?"

"Tonight at eight," Maes said. "You don't have to come, but take my advice and be there."

"I heard you," Edward said. Maes left without a word and Edward went back to writing down what he had been before. A party, eh? Isn't that what a bar was every night? Edward decided to go anyways and check it out. He took out a clean piece of paper and started a new list of supplies that he would need to get for the store.

_That night._

As he walked toward the bar he smelled a strong whiff of meat and he heard the people laughing loudly. He decided that he would only get a drink or two, then leave. It would satisfy Maes for a week or two, at least… The door opened right as he reached it, a person laughing and stumbling out. Edward sidestepped him and entered the bar, weaving through the swarm of people until he reached the front.

"Edward! So you came!" Maes said, as he was sitting at the front table.

"I'm surprised you're not in your uniform," Edward said.

"Off duty," Maes shrugged. He turnd back to the table and said something to the man beside him, and Edward turned back to the table. He ordered a beer and sat their quietly playing with his drink, occasionally drinking. He didn't know how long he sat there, listening to the laughter behind him… it was giving him a headache… he wanted to leave.

"Hey," a voice said.

Edward froze.

"Hey!" the voice said again.

He turned slightly, his eyes resting on Winry, except something was off. Her hair was darker than it should have been – was it the light? Her hair was shorter and cut to her shoulder – did she cut it? Her face and body was the same, but the eyes were brown… except they had the same warmth to them… "Winry…"

"You speak! But you got my name wrong," the woman said, her face confused. "I'm amazed you guessed even close. My name is Winifred, but I go by Winny. What's your name?"

Edward turned back toward his drink, a disappointment rocking in him. He groaned lightly and closed his eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" Winifred asked, her voice rose to be heard above the noise. She sat down beside Edward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think you've had too much to drink."

Edward looked at his glass and found it full again – How many did he drink, sitting here? "I can't remember how much… I had…"

"You're slurring a tad," Winifred said, shaking her head. "I think it's time for you to go."

Edward stood up suddenly, reaching a decision he had come up within a split second. He held out a hand to Winifred, making her jump at his quick movements. "Come."

"Where?" Winifred said suspiciously.

"The woman I left looked like you. I never was able to have my final dance with her." Why was he saying this to a complete stranger?

"As long as it's just a dance, then I'm fine with that. But there's no song right now," Winifred pointed out.

"I'll direct you, don't worry," Edward said, then pulled Winifred from her seat when she took his head. "The music should start soon, anyways." _Right?_ He asked himself.

"I believe you," Winifred laughed lightly.

Edward concentrated on not stumbling to the freest spot available, then he turned back to Winifred and pulled her close.

"What happened to the woman that looked like me?" she asked once they began dancing.

"I left her and I don't know how to get back to her," Edward said. He took a step back, pulling her with him.

Winifred titled her head to the side, a look of understanding in her eyes. "Are you sure you want to dance with me?"

The music started up and other people started joining them. Edward didn't answer but was asking himself the same question.

"I think you should try to get back to… Winry. She might be missing you, as you are obviously missing her."

"I don't know how to get back," Edward said, dancing slowly but now not looking where he was leading, occasionally bumping into people's shoulders.

"You need to. You won't get back if you don't try."

"I've given up. It cost me too much," Edward replied, his voice taking a dulled tone.

"You have two legs, don't you?" Winifred pulled Edward to a stop and locked eye contact with him. "You're able to keep trying. Don't give up! Two good legs and two good arms and a somewhat reasonable head are all you need, and you clearly have those."

"But I…"

"Don't stop. Don't think. Your girl is probably tired of waiting for you. You have to act quick." Her voice contained the same of emotion

Edward let go of Winifred and took a step back, then turned on his heel and started to head for the entrance. He remembered speaking to Rose all those years ago… _You've got a good strong pair of legs… _He had to act. He had to do something. So he followed Winifred's instructions. _Don't stop. Don't think._

Go.

"Hey Ed! Are you done already?" Maes called out.

"Don't stop him!" Edward heard Winifred say. "You can do it, Ed!" Her voice got louder over the noise.

_Right. Don't stop._ Edward didn't know what he was doing but his legs were moving. Once he reached the mechanic shop he quickly wrote a note and left it on the table for Maes to read in case he didn't come back. He stepped back out to the street and headed for the spot where he had come back from. It took an hour of walking to get to the place – he wondered how Maes had transported Noa and Edward back.

The place had clearly been the scene of a small battle. Hans's men were arrested here and most likely put up a fight. Edward opened the door to the room, the alchemic circle was almost completely gone, but that didn't stop him. He went over to the desk at the side of the room and searched the drawers for chalk and he found a piece just big enough to complete the circle.

Fifteen minutes later he was finishing the last streak and he set the small piece of remaining chalk aside when he completed. He sat back on his heel and gazed at the circle, wondering on what to do. He stood up and slowly took one step on the circle, then another and he reached the middle. He held his breath, then let out a defeated breath when the circle did nothing. So it would require a sacrifice, Edward thought unhappily. He had nothing to offer… except…

A warm blue light became the circle, and Edward closed his eyes as the gate received him.

* * *

The night was late and Winry wanted to sleep. She wondered why she was even here at the military base, invited to Roy's promotion party… maybe just out of friendly sympathy. Alphonse was there sitting at the bar, dressed in his military clothes, a false smile on his face while he was talking to his comrades. She knew he missed him, too. She missed him. But… she had made a promise to him. She wouldn't wait for him and that was mainly the reason she came. There were plenty of young men here, but she just was interested. It was still too soon.

A man with bright orange hair came into her view as he walked up to her. He introduced himself with a firm, clearly military voice. "Hello, miss. My name is Jonathan Hammel, and I would be pleased if you would dance with me."

Winry did dance with him, and she found herself slightly enjoying herself through the rest of the night. The men she danced with at first quickly left as Winry didn't seem interested, but she eventually opened up a little to let the men not actually be put out with her. It was near the end when someone tapped on the glass and cleared his throat and everyone turned to face him – Havoc.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he started saying in a loud voice, "We're here because…" He stopped when he heard some people gasp and he turned to the direction that they were looking in. Winry also turned to look, and her voice caught in her throat-

- Edward was walking down the red carpeted stairs, hair wet and his bangs dripping water across his clothes, the rest of his hair tied back into a ponytail. He was dressed in a clean military suit and was walking with a look of determination, and a smirk, on his face. He parted his way through the people or rather they parted for him as he walked to Winry.

She blinked and took a step back in disbelief as he stood before her. He held out his hand and she placed hers in his, feeling the cool feel of his automail hand against her fingers. He grinned and pulled her close and said, "I hope I'm not in any competition now?" He looked up to the man that had been her dance partner – brown hair and a boyish face who stood at least a foot over Edward.

Winry shook her head. "Not yet, but you could've been. It would have been someone taller though."

"Thank goodness I'm taller than you," Edward said, then Winry surprised him by throwing her arms around him and planting a kiss straight on his lips. She felt him twirl her around once, then he broke the kiss and laughed happily, and Winry found herself doing the same.

"Once again, you steal my flame," Roy said, having took the place of Havoc. "Everyone, welcome back the Full Metal Alchemist!"

Alphonse walked up besides Edward and enveloped him in a hug. "How'd you get back?"

"I'll tell you later," Edward grinned at him. "It was quite easy, though."

"What about the gate?" Alphonse asked. "Noa?"

"Exactly what I said; later," Edward said, looping an arm around Winry's waist. "I'm sorry I'm late though. I was held up."

"At least you're back," Winry said, smiling at him. She felt tears begin to gather in her eyes, but she didn't care. They were back together again and that was all that mattered…

"I'm glad you're here, Edward," Roy continued. "You get to see my promotion to Fuhrer."

Edward looked quickly back at him, blinking in surprise. "You… Fuhrer?"

Roy walked up beside Edward and held out his hand to shake it, which Edward took slowly and they did a firm handshake, then let their hands fall to their sides. "Welcome back, Ed."

"Thanks," Edward said lightly.

"I'll expect a full report from you on Monday," Roy said. "Got that?"

Edward stared at him like he didn't fully didn't get it, then he eventually nodded. "Expect it ready by then."

After Edward was done speaking with anyone who wanted to congratulate him, he pulled Winry to the dance floor. Havoc's toasted Roy's becoming fuhrer and Edward coming back, then the music started again. Winry stared at Edward as he led her along, feeling the happiest that she had been in the past few months.

"I promised myself that I would dance with you," Edward said. "Someone convinced me that I should save all my dances for you."

"And who did you dance with to tell you that?" Winry asked, her face a slight smirk.

Edward grinned at her. "I'll tell you later."

They danced.

* * *

"So you…" Roy shook his head in disbelief. "The gate took your arm and leg _again_?"

"Yes," Edward nodded. "As I wrote, it was the only way the gate would accept me and I came back with my automail fully intact." He was currently sitting in Roy's new office, which was an office too large for any certain thing. The carpet was grey but it had red carpet with the military crest leading from the door to Roy's desk. Winry was sitting on the right side of the couch with Alphonse on the left side, Edward in the middle. Alphonse was sitting there in deep thought, which Edward didn't consider good. Alphonse might be blaming himself again. How and why, Edward didn't know.

"I knew that Noa could see things… will she be alright? She seems to be the only one to have lost something. You came back, but Noa didn't get anything," Roy stated. "That seems unfair."

Edward shook his head. "Noa always seemed to not like her gift. I think now that it's gone I think it'll be a nice change for her to get a new chance at life. It helped her, in a way."

"Sounds like an adventure, Edward.," Roy said, satisfied with Edward's answer, and he set the paper down on the desk and looked at him, leaning back in his chair. "As I told you, Karl and his men are locked up in the Military Jail, in case you ever feel the need to speak to him. But now I think you should settle down a bit."

"What about you?" Edward asked, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees. "Have you thought about settling down with Riza?"

"Of course," Roy said. "That was planned months ago. We're getting married in a week, Edward. And you're invited, by the way."

"Great," Edward said. "Military style or average wedding style?"

"Well I don't want Riza to be in her military clothes on her wedding day, so it's going to be an average wedding," Roy said. "Of course."

"Of course," Edward repeated. "Well, we'll be going now. I'll report back in later in the day."

"See you," Roy said, then opened his drawer to look for something. Edward walked out of the room with the other two following, and he turned to Alphonse.

"What's up? You look depressed, Al," Edward asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing," Alphonse said, turning slightly red. "Anyways, your report sounded like you went through a lot. I'm glad you're back."

"It's about Rose," Winry said, patting Alphonse's shoulder. "She's coming here in Central because of Roy and Riza's wedding. She was invited too."

"Oh good," Edward said. "I thought you were blaming yourself for something in there."

"No," Alphonse said. "Just… well, I guess I was a little because of what you had to go through again... And this time, without me. It was weird not having you here the past few months. I didn't know what to do."

"You don't need to worry anymore," Edward said. He turned to Winry and took her hand. "Anyways, I'm starved…" They headed towards a restaurant and along the way Edward thought of the time he visited Hans's grave. It had been several days after he had moved from Maes's house and he hadn't found the mechanic shop yet. He had seen Hans grave was simple… it was just a cross over his grave, but Edward ordered a headstone to be made. He hadn't known what to put on it, so he just had Hans's name put on. Hans would want that, to be recognized no matter what. Edward had left the gravesite with placing some flowers on the grave despite all that Hans had done to him… he just was grateful for the fact that Hans had been there those years, being one of his best friends.

He wished all well back with Noa and Maes.

Then he remembered when he woke up in Germany three months ago how he thought life was unfair.

Life _could_ be unfair.

But all you had to do was change it.

Winry was holding his hand, and that was all he wanted.

…End…

**I hope you enjoyed the story. I expect people would not think this would be the last chapter… but it is. **

**Please leave your reviews and thank you SO MUCH for the reviews that I have now!**

**There WILL be an epilogue! **

**Colonel Bastard – Thank you for pointing that out. I like the last suggestion best!**

**Thank you for reading and keeping up with me! **


	16. Epilogue

The grave had changed since Noa had last seen it. It had a simple gravestone with "Hans" being the only word that was on it. The grass had fully grown back as it looked like nobody was buried there, except there were a few weeds growing around the gravestone. Noa reached over and plucked them out, a tad angry at the caretaker of the place. Hans seemed to deserve more, but it also seemed like he deserved nothing. Well, the grave was just that, a grave, a chance for the person to be forgotten…

But no, Edward made it recognizable with the gravestone. Noa probably would've done the same thing… eventually.

Noa stood up and brushed the grass form her knees, then walked away. She wanted to talk to Maes to see whatever happened to Edward. She had a small wish that Edward would be back at Amestris… but there was some doubt in her too. She headed through the streets and walked up the steps to Maes house. She knocked on the door, then after a while she heard the sound of small feet rush to open the door. A small girl, probably fire or six, appeared at the door. She had light brown hair that was back in braids and she had Gracia's eyes.

"Elysia?" Noa asked. "Hello, my name is…"

"Noa," Elysia said, as if she were pondering it. "My dad told me about the Elric brothers and a girl that looked like you."

"Hey," Maes said, coming into view. "How are you doing, Noa?" He motioned for her to come in, opening the door wide. He told Elysia to go to the kitchen and see if her mom needed help.

"I'm fine," Noa said, walking in. "I just came to visit and see if Ed was still around." She shook her head as if she were disagreeing with herself. "I'm guessing he isn't."

"I haven't heard from Edward in five years," Maes said. He walked past Noa and to the desk at the end of the hall, opening the top right drawer. "He left a note for me to find, but it's mostly for you. He left it in the shop he was working at." He handed the note to Noa and she recognized the scrawl as Edward's handwriting.

She read it slowly.

"_Noa,_

_I was told I give up fast, which might not seem like me, but I've been in a slump. I was told to not give up trying to go back to what I missed most: My family. I need to try to go back, Noa. It's now or never. I'm not going to stop trying. I will get back to Amestris, I promise you that. I just want you to have your own good life. Take care. You too, Maes._

_Edward."_

"So he made it back," Noa whispered. "I'm glad." Her eyes started to tear and she wiped them, shaking her head.

"Are you unhappy that he didn't take you?" Maes asked, his voice a bit gruff.

"No," Noa said. "Believe it or not, I'm a mother now. I have my daughter to take care of and my husband. I'm glad now that I'm here."

Maes nodded. "I think it's best for people to not attach themselves to what they can't obtain. It's best for Edward to be where he is. He's home and most of his regrets are gone."

Noa nodded and turned for the door. "It's time for me to go. Thank you for showing me the note," she said, handing him the note.

Maes waved it back. "Keep it."

Noa smiled at him and went out the door, still holding the note in her hand. Once she was outside she took a deep breath and walked down the stairs, putting the letter in her pocket. She took her daughters hands and her husband's who had been waiting and grinned at both of them.

"Let's go."

* * *

Alphonse nervously fixed his tie, then fixed it again, glaring at the mirror. Edward noticed him fiddling, so he stood beside his brother and crossed his arms to let Alphonse know that it was time. Alphonse finally let go of the tie and looked down at his brother, golden eyes gleaming back at him. "Brother, I can't believe I'm doing this," Alphonse said, his voice extremely nervous. "I didn't believe I could."

"I didn't believe I could, either," Edward shrugged. "But don't worry. Nobody will be looking at you… their eyes will all be on the bride, Al." He looked at the mirror and adjusted his own tie, which was black to match his suit. His hair was freshly cut and short, just at his shoulder which was different, for him. But he was slowly getting used to it… Alphonse had his hair freshly cut short which was usually his style.

Alphonse nodded in agreement. "Right. Ugh."

"You're so nervous," Edward chuckled. "That's a rare sight."

Alphonse glared at him. "I am not nervous. I'm just…" He sighed. "Anyways, it's time." He headed out the door.

Edward met up with Winry as he walked out and he quickly kissed her on the cheek. "Alphonse is nervous."

"So is Rose," Winry said. She looked down at the bundle she held in her arms and she smiled widely at it, then looked back at Edward. "Though Alphonse is holding out a lot better than you did."

Edward's eyebrow twitched. "Rose is being a lot calmer than you were, too."

"Probably," Winry said, her blue eyes twinkling. "Anyways, Satris started making a fuss so I had to take her out."

"Was she hungry?" Edward asked, leaning down to look at his daughter in Winry's arms. Satris cooed lovingly up at him and held out a chubby hand for him to take.

"Yes, she was, but she should last through this ceremony now," Winry said. "Riza's son has decided to take care of Satris, too. You should've seen it when I was sitting by them. He came up and just stared at Satris and asked if he could hold her." She chuckled. "I was afraid he would never give her back."

"Roy's son can stay away forever," Edward said sourly. "That kid makes a nuisance in the headquarters each day." He thought of the black haired kid- he was just a miniature of Roy. Annoying.

Just then Kain walked up to Edward. "Come on Uncle Ed, it's time." He started to line up at the door, holding the two rings on a small tray. He was beaming as he seemed very happy his mother was getting married. He motioned for Edward to start moving.

Edward kissed Satris on the head and lightly kissed Winry on the lips. "Well, I'll see you later." He was the best man, so he had to hurry up. He walked to the door and held out his hand for the bridesmaid that took his arm. They walked slowly up, and Edward let his mind drift as he watched the slow ceremony. He remembered the time when he had married Winry and how nervous he had been… Edward had walked forward and had changed his future.

And he was grateful for this life that he had.

Life would have its ups and downs, but it proved he was still living. He was standing on his own feet…

He smiled at Winry, who was sitting in the front pew. She grinned up at him and Satris giggled.

Life was a dance. Just like Hans had said, 'To dance is just another way to escape. Not only is it an escape, it is also a journey.'

His dance, his journey, wasn't yet complete.

Life continued on.

… **end of To Dance…**

**This epilogue was tough… but it summed up what happened in the end. I couldn't find a name for Roy and Riza's son. (I wanted to make it 'Maes' but… I don't know.) 'Satris' came from Winry's mom's name Sarah and Edward's mom Trisha. But I'm really glad this is complete. **

**It was so fun!**

**Anyways, I'm going to thank (in no personal order)…**

**ElementalKitty**

**Angel1357**

**Redneckgal a.k.a. Anko-sama**

**Inky-pinky**

**-oReTA aWaI tsUbAsa-**

**Kitty-Katz-Katz**

**edPod**

**Dragonflamecrystal**

**A.D.D. Vengance**

**Sousukes-Girl**

**Germanspeaker**

**Jin the Wind Master**

**Bar-Ohki**

**Harryswoman**

**CommanderDarman**

**thebestIcan**

**rue**

**bpliokb**

**Atemu'sLotus**

**S J Smith**

**Pink Pagoda**

**PaintedTurtleShell**

**LostGryffindorFoundSlytherin**

**Took-baggins**

**Ed's.angel**

**Colonel Bastard**

**Mrawgirl09**

**FMA lover912**

**Orange Singer**

**Thank you so much for reviewing and stating your views! I'm sorry the last chapter seemed rushed, I didn't quite mean that. The chapter just sort of wrote itself… :) **

**To Dance is now completed. Woot! **

**-Mustard. **


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